The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, has expressed concern at the planned closure of the Ardagh glass bottle plant in Ringsend, Dublin in May.

The closure has major implications for glass recycling and Mr Dempsey said he has asked officials in his department to examine the new situation. He asked that they consider alternative uses which may exist for waste glass. Possibilities include use in industrial abrasives, construction aggregates, cement and ceramic glazes.

The decision to close the Ardagh plant means the Rehab group has to look for a new outlet for most of the 100 million glass bottles it recycles each year.

The Rehab Recycling Partnership, which expects to recycle 36,000 tonnes of glass this year, is in negotiations with the Sean Quinn Group glass plant in Co Fermanagh to see if it will take more of its recycled product.

The Rehab operation employs 55 people, 38 of whom have disabilities, and last year supplied crushed glass worth €1.9 million. The Ringsend plant is the only significant glass plant in the Republic.

Mr Bob Rowat, general manger of Rehab Recycling Partnership, said it would now have to find a new market for its glass "and quickly".

He hoped the Quinn plant would take a significantly larger amount of Rehab glass than had been the case to date. Of the 30,000 tonnes of glass processed by Rehab last year, 26,000 tonnes went to the Ringsend plant and 4,000 to the Fermanagh one. The Fermanagh plant is a smaller operation than the Ringsend one.

The closure of the Ardagh plant "is quite a blow and a very sudden one. If it transpires that we have to export to Britain, then we will be looking for someone to support that, because the freight costs would be enormous." Mr Rowat said he would expect State help with freight costs.

The amount of glass being recycled had increased by 20 per cent each year for the past number of years, he said. "To stop now would be disastrous." He said the cost of disposing of the glass in landfill sites would be greater than the cost of subsidising the export of the glass.

Mr Andrew Hetherington, chief executive of Repak, said the closure of the Ringsend plant could be a "serious regressive step in Ireland's progress to date in achieving its recycling targets as laid down by the EU". Repak is the industry-funded waste packaging compliance operation.

The Republic has delivered on its recycling targets in recent years, he said. "The closure of this plant will seriously hinder Repak and Ireland's ability to meet its recycling targets. Ireland does not have another manufacturing facility with a similar capacity to absorb glass cullet and this closure could mean Ireland will in future have to export its recovered glass abroad for recycling."

"It is critical for Irish industry that an alternative facility or avenue is found for glass cullet and Repak will be devoting significant resources in this regard," Mr Hetherington said.