EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 9: Waste Table 9.5  EPA waste sector licence enforcement activities in 2019 CATEGORY NUMBER DETAILS OF MAIN ACTIVITIES Non-compliances (breaches of licence conditions) a 569 271 (48%) related to non-hazardous waste transfer stations, 146 (26%) related to landfill sector Inspections 416 173 (42%) routine sampling visits, 114 (27%) enforcement plan visits and 96 (23%) visits related to complaints, non-compliances and incidents Complaints received 165 97 (59%) related to non-hazardous waste transfer stations and 34 (21%) to landfills a For example, exceedance of licence emission limits, failure to notify incidents. Source: EPA. Local authorities prepare annual inspection and enforcement plans 15 and report on the implementation of these plans. The EPA, in its statutory role of supervising local authority enforcement, evaluates the plans using a framework of indicators to drive continual improvement. Areas identified by the EPA for improvement included early notification of any illegal waste sites to the waste enforcement regional lead authorities (WERLAs); a focus on enforcing the food waste regulations to increase segregation of food waste by businesses and households; 16 prioritising enforcement of waste management at construction sites; and improving the timeliness of validating and sharing waste data to ensure that illegal waste activities can be detected and prevented (EPA, 2020f). Table 9.6 provides information on the extent of some local authority waste enforcement activities in 2018. Local authority waste enforcement activities reported include not only permit enforcement, but also enforcement of producer responsibility initiatives and litter. Table 9.6  Local authority waste enforcement activities in 2018 (Source: EPA) ACTIVITY NUMBER Enforcement actions 17,000 Inspections 112,000 Complaints received > 70,000 (bulk related to litter) Prosecutions 790 (bulk related to unpaid litter fines) 15 Under the EU’s recommendation providing for minimum criteria for environmental inspections. 16 Roll-out of the household organic bin began in 2013, and since July 2016 organic bins must be provided in population centres with greater than 500 inhabitants (EPA, 2020f). Municipal waste characterisation indicates poor segregation of food waste at commercial premises (EPA, 2018b). The work of the WERLAs is overseen by a National Waste Enforcement Steering Committee (NWESC), which includes representatives from a wide range of regulatory authorities. The NWESC identified the following enforcement priorities for 2020: tackling significant illegal waste activity including illegal dumping and unauthorised C&D waste activity; inspections of authorised treatment facilities for end-of-life vehicles (ELVs); waste collection compliance (including roll-out of the organic bin under the biowaste regulations); and tracking waste flows. 3. Drivers Waste Policy and Legislation National waste policies are evolving to encompass the circular economy and climate change, in line with EU and UN priorities. A National Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy was published in September (DCCAE, 2020a) (see Topic Box 9.1), replacing the previous national waste policy A Resource Opportunity: Waste Management Policy in Ireland (DCCAE, 2012). 17 Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, published in 2019, includes ten actions for waste; if implemented these will be important drivers of change (DCCAE, 2019b). Legislative changes driven by the European Commission’s 2015 Circular Economy Action Plan will be transposed into national law in 2020/2021 and introduce: n challenging recycling targets n new separate collection obligations and in some cases collection targets (certain plastic beverage bottles, textiles, waste oils and household hazardous wastes) 17 This focuses on treating waste as a resource and virtually eliminating landfilling. 237