Businesses and community groups in Killarney have vowed to keep working to eliminate disposable coffee cups despite an “incredibly disappointing” U-turn by Government on the “latte levy”.
Members of the Killarney Coffee Cup Project said although many businesses in the town centre had withdrawn from the scheme, the remaining participants were determined to continue.
The group met this week after the Department of Climate, Environment and Energy confirmed it was not proceeding with a plan to require cafe and takeaway customers to pay a 20-cent levy on each disposable cup they used.
The so-called latte levy was designed to encourage people to bring their own keep cups to reduce paper waste, plastic pollution and littering.
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The Killarney project went a step further, removing disposable cups completely so that customers either had to bring their own cup or pay a €2 deposit for a returnable cup.
Most of the town’s independent cafes as well as hotels, schools and sports clubs were involved but larger retailers and food outlet chains did not take part and, without a national policy and obligatory levy, the numbers fell.
Johnny Maguire, co-president of Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce, said the Government had let Killarney down along with 35 other towns that wanted to replicate the project.
“A coalition of small, independent businesses in Killarney took a chance with the Killarney Coffee Cup Project and proved that small businesses could make a big difference when it comes to taking positive action,” he said.
“The project showed that businesses and consumers were willing to adapt their behaviours with the right incentives.
“We proved that the latte levy, which had been promised by Government, would work.
“Despite this proof of concept, and a legislative framework already in place, Government have now said they are unwilling to move forward with this legislation.
“This is incredibly disappointing, and suggests that Government are not serious about or committed to genuine climate action.”
The department said it was working on initiatives to reduce disposable cup use but moved away from the original plan after consultation with the Revenue Commissioners.
It was now considering a new collection model – imposing the levy on cup producers or importers.
That would leave it up to producers and importers to pass the cost on to retailers, who would have to choose whether and how to pass it on to customers.
The Killarney project and environmental groups say that approach won’t work and that a uniform, clear, point-of sale levy similar to the plastic bag charge is needed to change public habits.
A group representing 1,500 retailers is also opposed to the proposed new model and says its members have not co-operated with the department’s online consultation exercise on it.
Vincent Jennings of the Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association (CSNA) said the new approach was “dropped out of the blue” and was “ill-thought-out”.
“We’ve said we’ll have nothing to do with this consultative process. It’s a box-ticking exercise,” he said.
Mr Jennings said the best approach would be rules requiring that only fully compostable single-use cups could be used and that sufficient collection and composting facilities were provided.
Many single-use cups contain paper and plastic and cannot be composted, while facilities for compostables are scarce.
The department said it was working with the Revenue Commissioners to change the legislation drawn up to support the original levy proposal.
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“Furthermore, the department has recently commissioned an update to the regulatory impact assessment which will explore the potential impacts of the revised collection model and any other policy measure to reduce single use cup consumption effectively,” it said.
