Members have a copy of the presentation. I will try to keep my contribution as short as possible and I will run through it very quickly. We will answer any questions members may have at the end.
Our main aim is to develop a waste management sector that is recognised as a professional and well-regulated industry. We became affiliated to IBEC in 1999 so we are coming up to ten years of affiliation. Our members operate across the board in terms of the collection, recycling and treatment of waste. They collect both hazardous and non-hazardous waste, commercial, industrial and household waste. They provide a range of options to deal with waste. We are also associated with the European Federation of Waste Management and Environmental Services.
When the association was initiated in the 1990s, the majority of waste was collected and managed by local authorities. Since then, the private sector has become an important part of the industry. Some of the challenges in the past included awareness, regulation and enforcement. A lack of options was available for the treatment of waste. We have moved on considerably from that time. Currently, the private waste sector is an established part of the waste management industry. We play a vital role in terms of treating and managing waste. We collect almost all commercial waste and approximately half of household waste. We are also involved in many other areas. The most obvious one is perhaps WEEE and end-of-life vehicles, but we also deal with scrap metal and hazardous waste. We are involved in waste across the board.
Waste is one of the most regulated industries. Regulation was one of the key issues in the early 1990s. There is greater consumer awareness about waste and the environment in general. We have had to change in terms of how we are regulated and in our response to the market. The amount of municipal waste in 1998 was in excess of 2 million tonnes and that rose to more than 3 million tonnes in 2006. The private waste sector is responsible for more waste than the total managed by both public and private operators in 1998. We are a vital part of the waste management sector.
The level of rules, regulations, legislation and policy has developed considerably since the early 1990s. As an industry we must constantly keep up to date with the various demands from the regulator and consumers. A recent Forfás report showed the Irish market to be worth €560 million. It indicated the sector was considered to have a high growth potential. It is interesting to note that the main barrier Forfás identified was a lack of clear Government policy.
We are becoming an increasingly more professional and regulated industry. As an association, we constantly try to get recognition for the fact that we have moved with the times and that we are an essential element of the waste industry. Before I consider the challenges facing the industry and the economy as a whole, I must refer to the considerable success we have achieved. We do not talk about that often enough. In many cases the private sector has operated in partnership with the public sector. We are proud of achieving those targets and we should communicate that to the public. It is necessary for us to show we have reached those targets and that we can do it again, if we are provided with the correct policy framework.
The first challenge relates to national and EU targets. We need to be aware of the new waste framework directive on recycling targets. That is another benchmark that we will need to achieve. We can achieve it in partnership with the public sector. The landfill directive is one of the most immediate issues and that will become prominent in the next couple of years. We have achieved the targets to date and we expect we will be able to achieve the new targets. Policy needs to reflect the changing targets and increasing demands, but we are confident we can achieve them.
The second challenge I have identified is unfair competition and regulatory uncertainty. We are making a considerable investment in a market where there is uncertainty in terms of regulation but where there is not a level playing field. For example, local authorities are not required to go through the same process as the private sector. The environment fund is a significant fund made available to the public sector, which is funded by money accrued from the landfill levy and the plastic bag tax. We have the expertise and if we had access to that fund we could make good use of it and achieve other objectives. That is a significant issue for the private waste management sector. The unfair competition and regulatory uncertainty impacts across the industry and that affects the economy in terms of the cost of waste disposal for businesses in this country. The impact is also felt in households.
Effective co-ordination and value for money links back to the idea of regulatory uncertainty. Waste collection permits were recently introduced that have new requirements allowing regional and multi-regional applications for a single permit. The associated costs are approximately €10.4 million. The high-level group identified that we could make significant savings with the new regulations. I believe that is possible, but unfortunately the way in which the permits were introduced makes it more difficult to achieve cost savings. One member had to complete more than 8,000 rows in an Excel spreadsheet to complete the application for a permit. That is a drain on resources from a private sector viewpoint, but also for the public sector which has to process those applications and permits. If we can work together earlier we can avoid such issues coming up, but when they arise they can be dealt with appropriately. It is a practical example, something that has affected our members and is a real cost to business in the industry, trying to abide by these regulations. We have moved forward, in terms of having a smaller number of authorities to deal with, but we need to improve further to realise savings.
The last challenge I have identified relates to the consumer. We have to respond to consumer demands. Consumers are becoming more aware, not just about waste but in terms of environmental issues across the board. Everybody talks about carbon footprints and so on and people are becoming more aware of the waste they produce and where it will go and so on. We have to be able to respond to that and I believe we are doing so. We provide a service across the board, an integrated management system. We are involved in all aspects, from collecting materials at the very start to final treatment and disposal. We need to keep the customer happy, and therefore we are constantly trying to respond to our consumers' demands. We need to keep them on board and promote the message in terms of recycling waste.
To take up those challenges we must address some of the key issues outlined previously, for instance clear policy objectives, responsibilities in relation to regulation and in particular the division between service provision and the regulation. We do not believe a regulator and service provider should operate as matters stand. Despite that, the sector is worth more than €500 million to the economy, and this could be improved. There are options. It is identified as a growth industry, so we can work on that.
To bring matters up to date, the next presentation will deal with this in more detail, but I want to touch on the recent collapse in the commodity prices and recyclable markets. That issue was raised a couple of months ago, towards the end of October. Since then we have met a number of times, as an association and within the wider industry. We have also met with the various Departments and enforcement agencies and are working with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to try to find solutions. I will stop here, because I have taken up sufficient of the committee's time. My colleagues here have practical experience of all the issues that I have briefly outlined.