EPA - Ireland's Environment 2016 - An Assessment

96 / 234

Ireland’s Environment – An Assessment 2016 92
Waste Policy and Planning
Future objective is a circular economy.
The Department of the Environment, Community and
Local Government (DECLG) has published A Resource
Opportunity – Waste Management Policy in Ireland, which
is the current government waste policy (DECLG, 2012a).
Radioactive waste, which is subject to separate legislation,
has its own policy (DECLG, 2010).
EU legislation, EU action programmes and EU roadmaps
continue to be primary drivers of change in relation
to waste management practices in Ireland. The waste
legislative proposals under the European Commission’s
December 2015 Circular Economy Package3 look to set
ambitious targets for recycling of packaging and municipal
waste, and reduction in municipal waste landfilled.
There are three waste management planning regions
(reduced from 10 since 2013): Connacht-Ulster,
Eastern-Midlands and Southern. The 2015‑2021 Waste
Management Plans analyse the current situation and
provide information on waste infrastructure. The plans set
three performance targets (Figure 6.1) and eight strategic
objectives for key policy areas with linked actions and roles
and responsibilities.
Waste Regulation
Dealing with odour nuisance, fire risk and
securing financial provision for environmental
liabilities are key priorities for the Environmental
Protection Agency.
The EPA, the National TransFrontier Shipments Office
(NTFSO), the National Waste Collection Permit Office
(NWCPO) and local authorities are responsible for regulation
of the waste industry (i.e. storage, transit and treatment),
and approximately 4,500 waste authorisations are in place.
The authorisation type (licence, permit or certificate of
registration) depends on the class of activity and capacity
3
(EPA, 2015a). The NWCPO maintain national registers of all
waste collection and facility authorisations.
Since 2015, three Waste Enforcement Regional Lead
Authorities (WERLAs) have been responsible for co-
ordinating local authority enforcement within their region,
while local authority personnel remain the first responders
to investigate breaches of waste legislation.
The waste sector, particularly non-hazardous waste
facilities and landfills, continues to be the source of
a high number of odour complaints (92% of 539
complaints received in 2014 related to odour). There
were six fires at EPA-licensed waste facilities in 2014,
and more stringent conditions relating to waste storage
and fire risk assessment have been attached to licences
to mitigate risk. Eight shipments of waste were returned
from abroad in 2014 and, although this represented
a very small percentage of overall waste exports, the
trend needs to be reversed. EPA Licensed Sites – Report
on Waste Enforcement 2014 (EPA, 2015a) summarises
enforcement activities at 169 waste sites licensed by the
EPA. In 2014, apart from complaints, the EPA carried
out 270 inspections, handled 630 incidents and opened
64 compliance investigations to tackle areas of non-
Figure 6.1 Performance Targets under Waste Management Plans, 2015‑2021 (Source: WMP Regions)
Plan Target
Achieve a
Recycling Rate of 50%
of Managed Municipal Waste
by 2020.
Plan Target
Reduce to 0% the direct disposal
of unprocessed residual Municipal
Waste to landfill (from 2016
onwards) in favour of higher value
pre-treatment processes and
indigenous recovery practices.
Plan Target
1% Reduction per annum
in the quantity of
Household Waste generated
per capita over the period
of the plan.