Latte levy lacks long-term vision – Bacik
Labour Party Environment spokesperson, Senator Ivana Bacik, has said the Government should have a long term-plan to ban non-compostable coffee cups as well as a coffee cup levy.
This comes as the Minister for the Environment has said he plans to introduce a 15 cent charge on take-away coffee cups.
Senator Bacik said:
“As well as introducing a levy on takeaway coffee cups, which the Labour Party proposed in our alternative budget, the Government should consider implementing the Waste Reduction Bill which passed second stage in the Dáil in the summer.
“A levy without an overall plan to ban non-compostable coffee cups lacks long-term vision from the Government.
“Tackling waste is as important a part of the green agenda as shifting to carbon-free fuels. In the Dáil we recently co-sponsored, with the Green Party, the Waste Reduction Bill to ban the use of non-compostable coffee cups and food and to introduce, from 2020, a recycling charge for plastic and glass bottles as well as aluminium cans.
“Minister Naughton should ensure that any money raised from a coffee cup levy, should be ring-fenced to the environmental fund.”