Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 21 Nov 2001

Vol. 544 No. 4

Written Answers. - Waste Management.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

217 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if, under EU Decision 2000/532/EC, bottom ash is classified by the EU as a hazardous or non-hazardous material; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29220/01]

Trevor Sargent

Question:

218 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if, under EU Decision 2000/532/EC, bottom ash is classified by the EU as a hazardous material; if he will reclassify bottom ash as being a non-hazardous material; and if so, the analysis of risk to health and the environment which he intends to reclassify bottom ash as being a non-hazardous material; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29221/01]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey):

I propose to take Questions Nos. 217 and 218 together.

The hazardous waste list established by Council Decision 94/904/EC, which is currently in force, does not classify bottom ash from municipal waste incineration as a hazardous waste. With effect from 1 January 2002, Commission Decision 2000/532/EC, as amended, will replace Council Decision 94/904/EC. Under this Commission decision, bottom ash from waste incineration containing dangerous substances will be classified as a hazardous waste, while bottom ashes other than those containing dangerous substances will be classified as non-hazardous waste.

The annex to Commission decision 2000/532/EC specifies,inter alia, that where waste on the hazardous waste list is identified as hazardous by a specific or general reference to dangerous substances, it is hazardous only if the concentrations of those substances are such, that is, percentage by weight, that the waste presents one or more of the properties listed in Annex III to Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste. Article 2 of the decision specifies relevant concentrations of substances in respect of certain of the properties listed in Annex III of Directive 91/689/EEC.

With regard to the future management of bottom ash from waste incineration, it would be a matter for the relevant competent authority, in this case the Environmental Protection Agency, to determine whether bottom ash from a given facility is hazardous or non-hazardous having regard to the provisions of Council Directive 91/689/EEC and Commission Decision 2000/532/EC, as amended.