asked the Minister for the Environment the extent to which publicly collected refuse is recycled in Ireland.
Written Answers. - Refuse Recycling.
241.
Local authorities have been requested by my Department to consider what they can do to facilitate or promote the recovery of useful materials. In general, the action taken has been to provide or encourage provision of facilities for deposit of old cars, household equipment and other metal scrap, waste oil and bottles so that such materials may be collected by commercial interests for recycling. Little, if any, of the domestic and commercial refuse collected by local authotities is recycled at present since the market prices for recovered primary materials would not cover the costs involved in sorting, cleaning, marketing and delivery. There may be prospects for at-source separation, for example of paper and cardboard, but in the present state of the waste paper market, prices are unlikely to make paper recovery operations viable.