Dun Laoghaire
This morning.
Dublin Editor of The Irish Times Olivia Kelly reports:
Take-aways, supermarkets and other food businesses across Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in south Dublin could face fines of up to €500 for supplying single-use plastics to customers.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is set to become the first local authority to ban the supply or sale of take-away plastic containers, utensils, bottles and other packaging, under draft bylaws that will shortly be available for public consultation.
The plastics ban was proposed by Fine Gael councillor Barry Ward, who said he wanted to take a stand against the “wilful proliferation” of single-use plastics.
Dún Laoghaire council proposes fines of €500 for single-use plastics (Olivia Kelly, The Irish Times)
Fair dues, DCC could put something into their licencing to only allow compostibles for temp food vans/trucks.
Its not rocket science
Fair play to them!
So Johhny’s Corner Shop sells a plastic bottle of coke, he’s fined 500 euro. What’s the punishment for Coca-Cola mass producing the plastic bottles? How is this effective policy? Punishing small business owners rather than the mass producers? Definitely smells like a blueshirt climate policy all right….
Woke virtue signalling more like.
I’m all in favour of tackling the problem at source not hitting already hard-pressed businesses.
+ 1
You are right.
All drinks producers should be obliged to sell their drinks in reusable (rather than recyclable) bottles, with a €0.50 deposit on each bottle to ensure that consumers bring them back.
Used to be done years ago with bottles. And what happens now is that bottles, (which could be re-used as they are if cleaned) are brought to bottle banks (fuel used), collected at bottle banks (fuel used) and recycled by factories into other products, using lots of energy.
Surely the most expedient way would be to re-use them. In Germany for instance, you can buy a crate of beer and when you return it with the empty bottles, you can get a deposit back. The bottles are then washed and re-used.
100% agree.
The greatest trick the packaging industry ever pulled was convincing us that disposing of their waste was somehow our problem – drinks producers should be the ones organising the return and reuse of their packaging, not local councils.
Rob, perhaps I’m mistaken, but I seem to recall only last week commenting that targeting consumers to combat clime change was a bad idea only for you suggest there was something implausible or improbable about targeting mass emissions and plastic producing companies instead: why the change of heart?
A fair point:
There is a mechanism by which we can oblige drinks producers (for example) to reduce the amount of packaging entering the waste stream – deposits on bottles, etc. If consumers wanted to continue using packaging to the same extent, they would end up paying more.
The same with emissions – governments can and should try to tackle the problem at source, by taxing large emissions producers. The two largest sectors in Ireland are energy and agriculture. In the case of the latter, this could be done by reducing the national herd. In the case of the former, I am not sure what mechanism could be used put the cost on energy producers without it being passed on to consumers (but always interested on hearing ideas on same).
DLRCC finding more new & inventive ways of punishing rate payers. Shops closing down everyday in Dun Laoghaire while the council employees benefit from free parking in their offices and rented in the shopping g centre across the road. Perhaps encouraging them to use public transport by withdrawing the free parking would have a bigger impact on carbon emissions?
Not going to happen though, much easier when you can make others pay while your own position remains unaffected.
They really are trying to kill Dun Laoghaire aren’t they?
All the local Chinese takeaways went from Recyclable aluminium trays to hard plastic trays to hold curry. It absolutely crazy how much plastic is being produced now.
I reuse all my ones
Freezer and fridge is full of them
Am I doing something wrong?
Again they are gong after the wrong target. They need to confront the likes of Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble etc. Impose fines at source.
Why aim it to businesses trying to survive?
E.g., Will Barry Ward be leading the fine list for the use of single-use plastics during his recent unsuccessful run at the Dail? Those posters and plastic ties are everywhere in DLR….
There was a similar hoo-hah when the plastic bag levy was introduced. In the end, there was a few weeks of minor disruption, and then everyone adapted and got on with things, and you now see much fewer plastic bags stuck on railings as a result.
I wonder what percentage of plastic pollution comes from drinks straws, worldwide like, not just in Dún Laoghaire. Probably no harm in getting rid of them, but how much of a difference are we really making?
Probably relatively small, but still 500 million a day of them are used once and then thrown away in the U.S. alone.
They are also almost completely without purpose – unless someone has swallowing issues, etc, there is literally zero need for straws outside of medical reasons.
An interesting read on the 500 million claim: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/business/plastic-straws-ban-fact-check-nyt.html
Cheerfully withdrawn.
Still the figure is between ‘170 million and 390 million per day’, and that’s just in the U.S., so taxing/otherwise getting rid of the bloody things still represents an easy win.
Straws are also almost completely without purpose
This is the big difference. If you banned straws it won’t change 99.99% of people’s lives.
how much of a difference are we really making?
“But it’s just one plastic bottle” said 2.5 bn people.
Someone has to lead by example, even in the face of ridicule.
…damn you Cllr Ward…you’ve just hijacked the central negotiating plank from the greens…