Vol. 575 No. 4
105 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the position in regard to waste disposal; the method by which it is intended to dispose of domestic, industrial and building waste in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28423/03]
Government policy on waste management is set out in the policy documents Changing our Ways and Preventing and Recycling Waste: Delivering Change. The Government's approach is based on the internationally recognised waste management hierarchy of prevention-minimisation, significantly increased levels of recycling, energy recovery and utilising landfill as the last resort for residual waste that cannot otherwise be recovered.
Local authorities were asked to identify and fully assess the various issues involved with a view to identifying the nature, scale and mix of facilities which, at a regional level, appear to offer the best balance between maximised recovery of materials or energy and minimised environmental emissions, at reasonable cost. Local authorities then prepared and adopted waste management plans which require a major reduction in reliance on landfill in favour of an integrated waste management approach which utilises a range of treatment options to deliver ambitious recycling and recovery targets. Implementation of these plans is now well under way. A comprehensive legislative framework has been put in place to provide the necessary environmental regulation to underpin the process of modernising our approach to waste management.
The manner in which wastes in Ireland are managed is reported on periodically by the Environmental Protection Agency through its national waste database reports. The most recent report, published in July 2003, relates to the year 2001; a copy is available in the Oireachtas Library.
