Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 12 Feb 2002

Vol. 548 No. 2

Written Answers. - Waste Management.

John Bruton

Question:

310 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the latest estimate for municipal solid waste per capita here for the most recent available year; and the percentage increase which this represents over the 1993 estimate of 256 tonnes per capita in 1993. [4617/02]

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

A 1993 survey undertaken by consultants on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Local Government estimated that the total quantity of household and commercial – municipal – waste arising in Ireland was 1.972 million tonnes, equivalent to approximately 0.55 tonnes per capita.

The most comprehensive data on waste arisings are contained in the national waste database reports for 1995 and 1998 published by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA estimated that some 2.056 million tonnes of municipal waste was generated in Ireland in 1998, compared to a best estimate of 1,848 million tonnes in 1995. On this basis, it is estimated thatper capita municipal waste arisings increased from 0.52 tonnes in 1995 to 0.56 tonnes in 1998.