Biodegradable waste strategy drafted Actions leading to "real achievements on waste" EUR25m for recycling among new measures announced

560,000 or 42% of Irish households are now segregating their waste, there are now over 1,700 recycling facilities nationwide and recycling in Dublin has increased by 300% in three years.

These were among the statistics contained in the first 5-year report on Ireland´s waste management progress. Publishing the report, titled Waste Management: Taking Stock and Moving Forward, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Martin Cullen TD said ´Government actions and a recycling philosophy´ was tackling Ireland´s waste crisis.

As well as detailing progress between 1998 – 2003, Waste Management: Taking Stock and Moving Forward contains a series of key actions which were brought to Government. These include:
an additional EUR25million in funding for new recycling facilities
the country´s first National Biodegradable Waste Strategy.
Minister Cullen also announced that State grants previously envisaged for private waste companies will now be used for additional waste enforcement measures.

Nobody favours waste, but waste is a reality. Those advocating a zero waste policy have zero credibility. "Had the Government adopted such an approach in our regional waste management plans, Ireland´s waste management capability would be in a sorry state today, people would be paying more in taxes and foreign investors would not come to Ireland." The Minister indicated that the Government had set an ambitious programme of waste management planning, funding and legislation which was now yielding results. He signalled the nationwide movement to pay-by-use bin collections by the 1st January next as a move which will decrease waste volumes, increase recycling and save people money. The Minister also said that the recently outlined Local Authority Performance Indicators would help keep the public informed of progress in their area. In relation to recycling:

The number of Bring Banks has doubled in the five years since 1998, now standing at just under 1,700. More are being provided all the time. The number of Recycling Centres or Civic Amenity Sites has nearly doubled – 55 are in place and 6 more are at advanced stages of construction. Further recycling centres are at earlier stages of development. The number of households with access to a service for the segregated collection of dry recyclables has rocketed. From an average of 70,000 households in 1998, the segregated service now extends to over 560,000 households representing 42% of all households in the State. Over 52,000 of these households also have a third bin for organic waste.

Dublin City Council now reports household recycling of 20% compared to an average of 5.6% in 2001. The amount of household waste going to landfill is decreasing by more than 40% in places. Nationwide, the amount of materials brought to local authority bring centres increased by some 25% in 2003.

On thermal treatment, the Minister highlighted that planning permission has been granted for two facilities and the procurement of a third in Dublin is well advanced in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) process. In addition, two other regions are at earlier stages of the process towards procuring facilities by way of PPP´s.

In response to the need for landfill capacity to meet our short term waste management requirements until the full range of recycling and thermal treatment facilities are in place, the situation has been relieved somewhat, with some 10 years capacity now remaining compared to 6 years in 2001. The Minister emphasised this provides only a temporary solution.

In terms of the future agenda, the Minister outlined policies to push the implementation process forward:
The integrated waste management approach, based on the waste hierarchy, will remain the bedrock of waste management policy in Ireland;
Waste management planning will remain a local authority function, to be exercised in largely regiona