Green Party leader Eamon Ryan caused a stir in Leinster House this afternoon by dumping out a bag of unrecyclable rubbish onto his desk.

Deputy Ryan was highlighting the huge amount of unrecyclable plastics that shops and manufacturers provide to customers.

The bag contained an empty bottle of water, a plastic sandwich container, a used coffee cup and some plastic food packaging.

"We are drowning in plastic," he told the house as Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl berated him for "advertising."

He called for a ban on manufacturers using unrecyclable plastics - and the introduction of a plastic bottle deposit scheme.

The Green Party is also calling for a ban on unrecyclable take-away coffee cups.

Deputy Ryan's intervention comes following a deal between the government and Fianna Fáil which will see the introduction of the new bin-charges system - with a pricing watchdog to examine consumer costs.

Mr Ryan said there is 150 million tonnes of plastic in our seas - and warned that we are adding the equivalent of a full dump truck every minute to the mess.

The bottle deposit scheme would see 10c returned on every bottle - a system which deputy Ryan said had resulted in a 90% increase in recycling in other jurisdictions.

"Giving money back for a bottle would save 2.5 billion plastic bottles per year going to landfill, according to VOICE Ireland," said Deputy Ryan.

"If we can get them out of the system, it is a way to start protecting against landfill use.  

"It is a win-win scenario for the householder, who would be getting money back.  Everybody would be buying into what would be a step in the right direction in the management of recycling."

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the government is open to any idea that may reduce waste adding that he is committed to anything that makes it "easier for people to do the right thing or make the right choices" in terms of the environment.