Vol. 518 No. 1
144 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has commissioned any studies to examine alternatives to the thermal treatment/incineration options now being promoted in waste management plans. [11031/00]
The 1998 policy statement Changing our Ways recommended that local authorities identify and assess a range of waste treatment technologies, with a view to the development of an integrated waste management infrastructure appropriate to their particular circumstances.
During 1998, three EU-funded feasibility studies were carried out on thermal treatment of wastes in two distinct rural regions, the north east and the mid-west, and in the Dublin region; and biological treatment of wastes in the Dublin region.
These studies were commissioned respectively by Meath County Council, on behalf of eight local authorities in the two rural regions concerned, and Dublin Corporation on behalf of the four local authorities in the Dublin region.
The Minister for the Environment and Local Government has no direct function in relation to the making of waste management plans or the selection and development of waste facilities by local authorities and, accordingly, has not commissioned studies of the nature referred to.
