Penalties of up to €15 million and 10 years' imprisonment will be introduced for companies that fail to comply with new electrical recycling rules announced yesterday.
From August 13th, householders will be able to leave electrical and electronic waste back free of charge to shops when buying replacement items.
This includes items such as toasters, televisions, fridges and computers.
Householders will also be able to leave such goods at authorised recycling centres free of charge.
Local authorities currently charge a fee for accepting goods such as washing machines and dishwashers.
The new waste rules are being introduced to comply with an EU directive on recycling electrical and electronic waste.
Countries such as France, Germany and the UK have delayed introducing the new measures.
Ireland is the second EU country after Greece to implement the Waste Electrical and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Directive.
Announcing the new measures yesterday, Minister for the Environment Dick Roche rejected suggestions that the cost of recycling would lead to increased prices for consumers.
"The cost of dealing in an environmentally-friendly way with waste electrical goods and equipment is going to be built into the cost of production in the same way as the cost of steel, or glass, or rubber or any other parts they put into it."
Pointing to substantial fines and the penalty of imprisonment, he warned businesses that enforcement would be a "key priority".
He said the Environmental Protection Agency would be taking the lead in ensuring that manufacturers and retailers were living up to their responsibilities.
The Department of the Environment and the business lobby group Ibec will be hosting seminars explaining the new regulations to affected businesses this month. The first seminar will be in the Citywest Hotel in Co Dublin on July 19th.
Business leaders said the new rules would have "major financial and logistical implications for all manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers of electrical and electronic equipment".
Donal Buckley, head of Ibec's environment unit, said the directive could not be divorced from the waste situation in Ireland that was overly reliant on ever-diminishing landfill and whose waste disposal costs were the highest in Europe.
"The small size of the market, Ireland's geographical disadvantage, lack of collection and recycling facilities, uncertain end markets and a lack of awareness makes the challenges very significant for Ireland."
