A deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans is to be introduced in 2022.
It's among the measures included in the Government's Waste Action Plan that aims to halve food waste by 2030.
Under the plans, single-use plastic products like cotton bud sticks, plates, stirrers and straws will be banned from next July.
Minister for Climate Action and Environment, Eamon Ryan, feels the deposit and return scheme will really drive more recycling.
Mr Ryan said he believes the public will support the scheme. “There will be huge gains, even in just changes in attitude towards litter and waste when the throwaway bottle and can culture changes, which it will.
He said new measures like the end of single-use plastics “are not on the long finger, these are going to be delivered in the next year or two”.
The move was welcomed by environmental groups, with Mindy O’Brien, coordinator of VOICE and member of the National Waste Advisory Group saying that many of the policy measures outlined in this action plan "are designed to redefine how we look at resource use and waste, embracing a circular approach and investigating how to prevent waste at the beginning rather than building disposal systems to get rid of the waste at the product’s end."
Sorcha Kavanagh of the Conscious Cup Campaign and also a member of the National Waste Advisory Group, called on supermarkets "to do their part to make it easier for the ‘conscious consumer’ to do the right thing. "They should offer refill solutions for dry goods and cleaning products so that shoppers can bring their own reusable containers or offer reusable containers that can be returned for further use. Loose fruit and veg should be offered at a competitive price to pre-packaged items to encourage shoppers to shop package-free."
