Dive into the features you want to see

acai all together now alma alone animals Anthony bourdain asahi super dry awards bakery bank holiday bars bbq beaujolais nouveau beer big grill Booze bread man walking brewey Campari chapter one charcuterie chinese christmas claddagh clam pizza clams cocktails Coffee comfort cornucopia Cover Story culture night date date night ddough bros deliveroo Design dessert diplomatico Direct Provision dog friendly dogs donegal drink drinks Drugs Dry January Dublin Dublin 8 earth rising events Fashion fast food Festival festival food festivals Film fire fireplace food food and drink football special ghosts gift guide Gigs glas govindas guide guides guinness halloween haunted HH13 history Housing IMMA inchicore international women day Interview ireland irish its a trap jack daniel's jameson japnese Killarney korean lambay le petit breton LGBTQ+ list Lists Literature Living Hell lotts & co love tempo lunar new year Made by District Made in Ireland march matcha mcdaids media movies new opening News oakberry olympics Pancake Tuesday pancakes pickles pina colada pint pints pizza Politics pop culture pop-up pubs restaurants rí-rá rialto ring rum saucy cow seafood sexy Shite Talk Signature Dish smithfield snacks social fabric soda southbank spooky st brigit stoneybatter summer Sustainability sweet treat takeawy tang tea Technology tequila the liberties Theatre things to do Thomas street tiramisu Top Ten Tracks TV Ultimate Food Guide valentines day vegan vegetarian Vietnamese Visual Art wendy's whiskey wicked wine women yamamori yamamori izakaya
Food / March 30, 2022

Latte Levy coming to Ireland this year

Unsplash
Food / March 30, 2022

Latte Levy coming to Ireland this year

Words: Shamim de Brún

 The Government approved legislation yesterday to introduce levies on takeaway coffee cups this year to cut down on single-use items.

The levy rate will be set out after the bill is passed later this year but is thought to be about 20c per cup. The bill also seeks to support the increased use of recycled or reused materials in the Irish market. For the first time, it will define the circular economy in Irish law.

This levy will drive down the use of single-use disposable products – including disposable coffee cups. Nearly half a million of them are sent to landfills or incineration every day, amounting to 200 million cups a year.

The environmental levies on these single-use items will be “ringfenced” and put into a circular economy fund. This means that the Government should only use the money generated from this tax to combat climate-related issues.

Minister of State Ossian Smyth, who is responsible for the circular economy, said it “aims to stop the wasteful pattern of using valuable resources once and then just binning them. From discouraging the use of single-use items to improving the process for allowing recycled materials onto the market, this legislation will support the development of sustainable products and business models across the economy”.

The environmental levies will likely also mandate waste separation. While homes have been separating and recycling their waste for a number of years, commercial businesses are permitted to dispose of all their waste together.

Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said, “Through a mix of economic incentives and smarter regulation, we can achieve far more sustainable patterns of production and consumption that move us away from the patterns of single-use and throw-away materials and goods that are such a wasteful part of our economic model now,”.

Elsewhere on Char: Daring Pairing: Champagne and Spice Box