Vol. 488 No. 3
21 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the progress being made to divert 100,000 tons of organic waste from landfill to composting by 1999 in accordance with the Government plan Recycling for Ireland. [5924/98]
It is a stated objective of national recycling policy to divert some 100,000 tonnes of organic waste away from landfill by means of composting by 1999. Many measures are being taken to promote waste composting. Financial assistance has been allocated to local authorities under the Operational Programme for Environmental Services 1994-99 for the provision of composting facilities and, in one instance, towards the development of a pilot project to collect organic waste from households for composting.
A number of local authorities are now actively involved in composting developments. For example, Dublin Corporation provides a facility for the acceptance of garden waste which deals with some 50,000 tonnes of waste per annum. Limerick Corporation has been approved for grant assistance from the European Regional Development Fund via my Department, for a project involving the separate collection of organic waste from householders, following which it is to be composted at a central facility. This project is expected to divert some 15,000 tonnes of waste to composting. Cork Corporation and Cork County Council are jointly proposing to develop a central waste management facility for the segregation, treatment and composting of municipal waste. The facility will involve the composting of some 35,000 tonnes of wet organic waste.
Several local authorities have provided home composters to householders with a view to separation and composting of organic waste at source. Some private sector companies have also been approved for grant assistance from the European Regional Development Fund for the development of relevant projects.
Future measures to advance the diversion of organic waste from landfill to recycling will be considered in the context of the proposed EU Directive on Landfill which will require member states to develop national strategies for the diversion of the major portion of biodegradable waste from landfill.
Public information on household composting and on organic waste treatment is distributed by ENFO, the Department's environmental information service, and by local authorities.
