This past week, the Landmark Circular Economy Act which was signed by the President became law.

The Act

• defines the Circular Economy for the first time in Irish domestic law
• incentivises the use of reusable and recyclable alternatives to a range of wasteful single-use disposable packaging and other items
• introduces mandatory segregation and incentivised charging regime for commercial waste, similar to what exists for the household market, and
• provides for the GDPR-compliant use of a range of technologies, such as CCTV for waste enforcement purposes.
• The Act also effectively calls time on coal exploration by ending the issuing of new licences for the exploration and mining of coal, lignite, and oil shale.

As the Minister for the Environment, Climate, and Communications, Eamon Ryan points out, the enactment marks a pivotal moment in the government’s commitment to making the circular economy a reality in Ireland.

This comes after the EPA released provisional estimates of greenhouse gas emissions for the period 1990-2021 and cited energy industries as one of Ireland’s main emitters of greenhouse gases.

Read the Full Press Release Here.