The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has been warned that proposals to introduce levies on fast-food containers and packaging would undermine existing recycling schemes.
Last year he announced plans for a series of charges, similar to the plastic bag levy, on items including chewing gum, ATM receipts and polystyrene fast food packaging to combat littering.
However Repak, the organisation responsible for funding the recycling of most packaging waste in Ireland, has claimed such a levy would not work and could actually increase the tonnes of packaging waste.
It has also claimed that rather than reduce the amount of waste being created, it could actually increase the weight of packaging material by encouraging manufacturers to switch to glass bottles and containers.
Repak was established by the Government and Irish industry in 1997 to enable firms to comply with European packaging regulations. Under these regulations, companies that produce packaged goods must accept the packaging back to be recycled.
Alternatively they can pay a membership fee to Repak, which in turn funds and subsidises recycling schemes, providing subsidies of up to €60 to waste companies for every tonne of packaging waste, including glass, cardboard and plastic, that they recycle.
In a submission to Government earlier this year, Repak said the proposed levies on individual packaging items "would have limited success in reducing the volume of packing items as there are no readily substitutable packaging alternatives".
The levies "would have a direct inflationary effect on prices which could result in job losses and would contribute significantly to the cost of basic goods", the submission stated.
The levies could also actually increase the amount of packaging waste in pure tonnage terms, by encouraging companies to switch from plastic to heavier glass bottles, which would in turn increase recycling costs, Repak claimed.
The submission was based on an economic study carried out by Compecon for Repak, which also found that "the introduction of such additional packaging levies would undermine Repak's ability to raise membership fees and thereby threaten the funding of targeted recycling materials".
Mr Cullen's proposals for additional anti-litter levies followed the success of the 15 cent plastic bag tax, which resulted in a 90 per cent reduction in the amount of bags being used.
Although details of the new levies were to be announced by early this year, a study on the economic impact of the proposed levies has still to be published.
It is now thought that only a chewing gum tax may go ahead.