General News / November 6, 2019

New levy on disposable cups to be revealed

General News / November 6, 2019

New levy on disposable cups to be revealed

One of a number of environmentally motivated changes sees a new tax on disposable cups.

In a number of new changes to be undertaken by the government, single use plastic cups will be subject to a new levy in an attempt to reduce waste.

Also applying to compostable cups, the new change dubbed the ‘latte levy’ is part of larger plans to encourage more responsible behaviour and to protect an already delicate environment. The levy on disposable cups will sit between 10 and 25 cent.

Simultaneously the current plastic bag levy will increase from 22 to 25 cent and is coupled with a new waste recovery levy of 5 euro a tonne on waste going to landfill, incineration or for export.

Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton stated the proposals “has clear benefits for the environment, when you consider that 22,000 disposable coffee and tea cups are used every hour. Our first response must be to reduce the amount of waste created in the first place”.

The new changes will not be applied immediately and will go to public consultation until December 20 with the possibility if being introduced in 2020 or 2021.