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Chapter 6: Waste
Waste Management
The Current Situation
Improvements in waste management have been
achieved, but there remain issues to address.
Diverse societal and economic wastes are generated in
Ireland: household and similar waste (commonly called
“municipal waste”), industrial process waste (including
extractive waste), radioactive waste, animal by-products,
explosive and pyrotechnic waste, contaminated land
1
and
dredging material.
2
Ireland’s waste management practices, infrastructure and
regulation have matured significantly since the Waste
Management Act (1996) was enacted. This change has
been driven by EU and national legislation, national policy
and economic initiatives. Since 2012, there has been a
clear government policy focus on waste as a resource
and virtual elimination of landfilling. Waste management
planning and waste enforcement structures have recently
been consolidated and strengthened. The current and
future focus is on waste prevention, reuse, maximising
recycling and using waste as a fuel in replacement of fossil
fuels: all elements of the circular economy strategy to
boost competitiveness, foster sustainable economic growth
and generate new jobs.
The waste sector is now almost exclusively privatised
(although local authorities manage a significant civic
amenity and bring bank network, as well as some
landfills). The private sector has invested significantly in
infrastructure that has increased the sophistication of
1
See Chapter 7.
2
See Chapter 5.
waste processing and treatment and brought innovation, but
privatisation has also brought some challenges. A number
of operators have gone into receivership or liquidation, and
securing financial provisions for environmental liabilities at
waste facilities is of critical importance to ensure that the
State is not left with remediation costs.
From an environmental performance perspective, the waste
sector is responsible for a high number of odour nuisance
complaints, particularly relating to non-hazardous waste
transfer and landfill activities, and there were six fires at
waste facilities in 2014. Societal littering and fly-tipping is
still a problem in urban and rural areas, indicating that a
section of society has poor citizenship values.
The most significant change in waste management since
the last State of the Environment report in 2012 is that
more residual waste is now recovered (i.e. used as a fuel)
than disposed to landfill. There are six active landfills for the
disposal of municipal waste, compared with 18 in 2012.
Segregation and separate collection of food waste from
households has been legislated for since 2013 and municipal
waste recycling at composting and anaerobic digestion
facilities has increased as a result. Ireland is currently heavily
reliant on export markets for the treatment of residual
and recyclable wastes. Proactive planning for adequate
future treatment capacity in the State (and abroad where
necessary) is essential to ensure that there are no negative
environmental impacts from increased waste generation.
Preliminary data for 2014 (EPA, personal communication)
indicate increases in municipal and construction and
demolition waste generation since 2012, most likely as a
result of economic growth.