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

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Figure 10.10  Total national non-hazardous waste transfers 2007-2017 (Source: EPA http://www.epa.ie/ enforcement/prtr/) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Non-hazardous disposed Non-hazardous recovered 0 0.5m 1m 1.5m 2m 2.5m 3m 3.5m 4m Waste Transfers (tonnes) 4. Waste Generated by Industrial Sectors Industrial sectors account for around two-thirds of the total hazardous waste generated in Ireland, with the chemical industry producing a quarter of this amount. Hazardous waste can pose a risk to health or the environment if not managed and disposed of correctly. The IED is the primary policy initiative in relation to the regulation of waste-related aspects of industrial activities. In general, the primary focus of the IED regulatory regime is more on the management of environmental releases and there has been less emphasis on minimisation and recovery, including preparing waste for reuse, within the licensing process. This is likely to change in the future, as there could be more emphasis on the development of the circular economy for resource use and waste. Industrial sectors accounted for just over half (56%) of the total non-hazardous waste generated in Ireland in 2016, with the food and drink sector representing a large proportion (16%). See Figure 10.10 for details. There were significant year-on-year increases in the recovery of non-hazardous waste between 2011 and 2017. These are partially attributed to waste flows going to the waste to energy (incinerator) facilities that became operational in these years. Industrial sectors also accounted for around two-thirds (67%) of total hazardous waste generated in Ireland in 2016, with the chemical industry representing the largest proportion (25%) (Eurostat, 2019). The cement and lime sector (18%) is also significant (Eurostat, 2019). In the chemical sector there has been a switch to cleaner biosynthesis production in recent years in Ireland, with less hazardous waste generated per installation as a consequence (Topic Box 10.4). 268