International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

introduced (and under which, they would manage tendering processes), then it might
not make sense for them to be regulating at the same time.
Probably a more nuanced view of the situation is required in which the regulatory
functions are reconsidered in the context of the revised market structures being
recommended (in respect of competition for the market).
Bacon Associates, in its report for Repak, has recommended that the EPA takes over
the role of monitoring compliance with the packaging regulations from the local
authorities. 103 The role of local authorities in respect of implementing / enforcing
producer responsibility does vary across the producer responsibility streams, and the
manner of this variation does not follow an obvious logic.
4.3 Recommendations
The OECD notes that there is a lack of regulatory coherence in Ireland. Infrastructure
investment on a private level will not, it suggests, advance at the desired pace until
clarity is achieved as to the future of waste management regulation in Ireland.
However, it offers no obvious solution to the problems, specifying what Ireland might
aim for in rather broad terms: 104
69
To establish well-functioning waste management, Ireland should implement a
system that entails: 1) a regulatory regime that eliminates conflict of interest;
2) lower market entry barriers by reducing lengthy procedures; 3) contractual
arrangements that oblige service deliverers, whether public or private, to
deliver on sustainable development objectives such as broader environmental
goals and universal service; 4) a financing system that removes hidden
subsidies and allows all service providers to bear the actual cost of service
delivery in their fee structure (including recycling costs), in accordance with
the polluter-pays-principle; and 5) planning and co-ordination arrangements
that allow rational infrastructure use and investment.
No one could disagree with, for example, the desirability of a regulatory regime that
eliminates conflict of interest (if indeed the conflict is more than merely perceived,
which the OECD implicitly – in making this recommendation - suggests that it is), or of
implementing contractual arrangements which aspire to universal service and
broader environmental goals. The question is, rather, how to achieve that.
Our view is that at least some of the regulatory tensions stem from the public sector
becoming increasingly involved in shaping developments in the markets for
commercial and industrial waste, and the private sector becoming increasingly
involved in household waste even where (some) local authorities feel they have no
right to be involved due to their being the incumbent provider. The ongoing legal
103 Peter Bacon and Associates (2008) Examination of Impact of Recent Price Collapse in Markets for
Recyclate Materials and Required Intervention, Report for Repak, available at:
http://www.repak.ie/files/Bacon%20Report%20on%20Waste%20Markets,%20Nov.%202008_1.pdf
104 OECD (2008) Ireland: Toward an Integrated Public Service, Paris: OECD, available at:
http://www.oecd.org/document/31/0,3343,en_2649_33735_40529119_1_1_1_1,00.html
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes