Irish politicians demand radical action on circular economy after “concerning” government plan

12 Jan 2022 --- Ireland’s new Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE), a government roadmap for improving the country’s environmental sustainability footprint in line with UN targets, is coming under fire for using “vague” language and failing to make concrete policy pledges.

A cross-party Joint Committee on Environment and Action, which released a report scrutinizing the plan, is “expressing concern” with the government’s limited definition of a “circular economy,” its failure to set real targets or establish any real time frames, and for using ambiguous language that could be in direct conflict with the EU’s Green Deal. 

Politician Richard Bruton, a member of the Joint Committee, says the country needs “radical” changes if it is to circularize its economy properly. 

“If we are to deliver a circular strategy, a big shift will be needed. Eco-design must become a central tool to drive rethinking of the supply chains. Standardization of what must appear on labels and the verifiability of any claims, along with standardization of public procurement to align with the new attention to circularity,” he says. 

“The creation of new targets and the emergence of new markets are needed to make a circular economy model a reality. Tighter regulation of what materials can be used and a consistent methodology for product environmental footprinting are needed.”

Linguistic criticisms 
Among the committee’s chief criticisms of the WAPCE is a lack of concrete language used throughout its report. It says the definition of the “circular economy” needs greatly expanding, saying the circular economy should mean an economic model and the policies and practices which give effect to that model, “in which every stage of the supply chain is adapted – from the first choice of materials to produce the goods or services through to their end-of-life.” 

The committee recommends introducing French-style bans on plastic packaging for fruit and vegetables.“In such a way that at each stage their harmful impact on the environment is minimized and in which resources are kept in use for as long as possible, the maximum value is extracted from those resources whilst in use, and products and materials are recovered and regenerated at the end of life.”

Also, the committee expresses concern over the WAPCE’s use of the word “may” in its commitments, indicating no concrete pledges or commitments are being made. 

Moreover, the report’s use of the term “from time to time” indicates a failure to commit to needed deadlines, it says. The committee also recommends the word “waste” be replaced throughout with the word “resource” to indicate that all materials can and should be reprocessed into the economy. 

Aligning with France 
The committee is suggesting policy actions would put Ireland’s packaging industry further in line with France, where stricter rules on reuse and fruit and vegetable packaging have come into force.

Currently, the WAPCE has plans to ban single-use items, including cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, stirrers, chopsticks, straws, polystyrene containers and oxo-degradable plastic products from July 2021. 

The committee calls for an extension to other items such as wet wipes, single-use hotel toiletries and single-use sugar and condiments. 

It also calls for an expansion of reusable packaging systems, referencing French laws that stipulate 20% of supermarket floor space must be allocated to reusable stations in any store larger than 400 meters. 

Moreover, it recommends that a requirement for loose fruit and vegetables to be of equal cost per kilo as packaged fruit and vegetables be set out.

Recently, France and Spain both passed mandates banning plastic packaging for fruits and vegetables weighing less than 1.5 kg from January 2022.

By Louis Gore-Langton