COLUMN: The real cost of plastic

Around 5 million beverage plastic bottles and cans are sold in Irish shops every day. Most attract either 15c or 25c of a surcharge (depending on size) under the recently introduced Deposit Return Scheme. This means about €1 million is collected by shops every day under the scheme. Over the first 40 days of the scheme €1.2 million worth of return vouchers were issued to customers who deposited cans and bottles.

The aim is to recycle more plastic and cans. Ireland currently recycles about 60 percent of plastic drinks bottles. The target is 90 percent. Within the 40 days around 7 million containers were deposited under the scheme, so where are the other 193 million plastic bottles and cans?

A question many people ask is, “Where about the unclaimed money?” It goes to Re-turn, an ‘approved body’, which is a non-profit entity, to operate the scheme. This naturally will lead to another question, “What happens if (when) they become flush?” Dormant Account Scheme revisited… only to be used for recycling initiatives. The Government will feel seriously vindicated with the introduction of the scheme by citing figures. The scheme is a EU-wide initiative.

Tackle the source

All of this raises one major question: Is the EU (and Ireland) really serious about reducing the use of plastics? If the answer is yes, then without any fanfare or consultation fee, may I suggest that they tackle the problem at source.

The drinks companies are the people who ‘use’ the plastic containers. They are the people responsible for introducing the plastic into customers’ lives. Tackle them, don’t charge/blame the customer for using them! People do not have a choice about how their drink is sold to them. There is very little that is ‘green’ about this scheme even if Green Party enthusiasts across the EU claim its introduction as a ‘victory’.

Ireland was the poster boy when it introduced the 15c plastic-bag levy. Again the customer had to pay for something they had no control over. Most products are still wrapped in plastic in shops. Customers go to the trouble of bringing bags when they go shopping yet they are forced to fill them with needless plastic packaging.

Why does the EU not insist that producers stop using plastic packaging? Ireland could take the lead on this, especially the Green Party, if they get a chance to get their heads out of the lettuce on their south-facing window boxes. Customers are doing their bit. It’s time for the politicians to step up and challenge the true source of our plastic problem – suppliers. Go to the source, not the low-hanging fruit that is the customer.

Low-hanging fruit

The Green Party is well known as the party of tackling the low-hanging fruit, the people. We have their history of taxing cars by emission rather than engine size, unless you have a pre-08 car which attracts a higher tax. They espouse electric cars without any reference to the impact on the environment (and human life) through their production, their ‘fire danger’ and their dependence on electricity that has shot up in price, netting suppliers a windfall over the past few years.

Where were the Greens and the rest of the parties when people were (and are) being fleeced by energy companies? Or is it easier to stay quiet because increased prices literally mean increases in the tax take? Where is the line of demarcation for political parties between serving the people they are elected to serve, and aiding and abetting big companies make huge profits through exploiting crises?

How can it be sensible, cost-effective, fair or environmentally-friendly to close down our own turf operations and import peat products from abroad? The template to justify eco-friendly practices used by some so-called ‘greens’ sometimes beggars belief.

This week saw the reintroduction of increased taxes on fuel, so motorists are hit again. While the Government will claim they reduced excise for a period, the reality is that forecourt prices are still ‘up there’. Now prices have increased again because of increased taxes from the Government. When is enough, enough?

The next election will elicit a huge price for the Greens and their enablers, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Any hope of a political refund?