Single use plastics, including disposable coffee cups, will be banned in the EU by the year 2030.
Things like cups, straws and takeaway packaging will be replaced by recyclable bio-degradable plastic.
Activists will dump piles of plastic waste outside the Dáil today to highlight the importance of waste reduction.
Meanwhile, Waterford Council say they will consider ways of encouraging people to use reusable coffee cups.
The issue was raised by Councillor Lola O'Sullivan who said she'd received emails from people in relation to the issue. The Fine Gael Cllr suggested a pilot project for 2018, to take place for example in Tramore, to work with cafe owners to encourage the public to bring their own cups.
Ray Moloney from Waterford Council's Environment Department said it was something they would be interested in looking at:
"It's a good idea.. I attended a Green Coast seminar in Tramore early in the summer and a Tramore primary school made a presentation on the cost of the coffee cup...so maybe Tramore would be a good place to start if we could get some of the shops and restaurants to engage with us on that."
