We at VOICE believe that in order to get the change we want to conserve our natural resources and protect our environment, we need a top down and bottom up approach. We must have ambitious EU and national legislation to set targets and set the highest standard for industry, retail, government and individual behaviours. However, we must also engage on a local, community basis to achieve positive behaviour change.
If furtherance of this objective, VOICE has advocated on an EU basis, particularly for the adoption of the Single Use Plastic Directive and its implementation on a national level. This Directive will ban 10 most commonly used Single Use Plastic items and directs countries to reduce plastic packaging and adopt reuse initiatives. One of the key objectives is the collection of 90% of plastic drinks bottles, which supports our years long battle to adopt a Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS) in Ireland. As a result, Ireland will put a DRS in place and VOICE is at the negotiating table to ensure that we have a robust and ambitious programme.
We have a lot of work to do in waste and waste prevention policy here in Ireland, and we have become the trusted environmental VOICE (as our name indicates). We sit and participate on the government’s Waste Advisory Group, the EPA’s National Waste Prevention Committee and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. Additionally, we are an active member of the Break Free From Plastic international network and serve as co-convenor of its Reuse Policy Task Force. Our Coordinator also sits on the Irish Environmental Pillar’s Steering Committee, developing the EP’s policy direction.
Effective policy is only adopted when we get active grassroots engagement and participation. Please support our policy demands and check out our website and social media channels to find out how you can get involved to create a waste-less society in Ireland.
