Vol. 435 No. 7
25 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment whether the use of incinerators is a viable or safe option for waste disposal in Irish urban areas in view of overwhelming evidence of the emission of high levels of carcinogens from such incinerators abroad, leading to a reversal of incinerator waste disposal policy in countries such as Denmark and the USA.
Incineration is widely used internationally, including by the countries referred to in the question, as a means of disposing of different kinds of waste. Incineration of waste is a licensable process or activity under the Air Pollution Act, 1987, and the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992. Licensing would embody appropriate conditions to prevent and limit pollution and, inter alia, would be based on use of best practicable means or of best available technology not entailing excessive costs.
EC legislation sanctions the use of incineration on the basis of strict controls designed to ensure the protection of health and the environment. Existing Council directives provide for emission standards and other controls to prevent and limit air pollution from new and existing municipal waste incineration plants. A draft directive providing for control of hazardous waste incineration has been agreed by the Council of Ministers. EC Directives also provide for specific limits on emissions arising from plants which burn waste oils as fuel.
