Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2018
47. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the supports available to facilitate communities interested in establishing local community-based waste collection co-operatives in the interests of best waste management and environmental practice. [37314/18]
View answerI do not think it is an overstatement to say that there is a crisis in waste management. Multiple operators trudge up and down the same road every day to pick up the odd bin here and there. There are appalling working conditions, rising prices and one would probably need a university degree even to work out what one is supposed to put in each particular bin. There is a desire in communities to take the service back into municipal, local or co-operative ownership. Does the Minister's Department provide any supports for that?
The Waste Management Act 1996, as amended, and the Waste Management (Collection Permit) Regulations 2007, as amended, set out the regulatory framework for the collection of waste in the State. The obligations on local authorities with regard to collecting household waste are set out in section 33 of the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended. In summary, it provides that each local authority shall collect, or arrange for the collection of, household waste within its functional area. The obligation to collect or arrange for the collection of waste shall not apply if there is an adequate waste collection service available in the local authority's functional area; if the estimated costs of the collection of the waste would, in the opinion of the local authority, be unreasonably high; or if the local authority is satisfied that adequate arrangements for the disposal of the waste concerned can reasonably be made by the holder of the waste.
It is open to any organisation, commercial enterprise or local community group, to apply for a waste collection permit to the National Waste Collection Permit Office, which is the nominated authority to issue permits on behalf of all local authorities, should they wish to collect household waste in the State. In addition, and depending on the scale of the planned operation, it may also be necessary to apply to the relevant local authority and-or the Environmental Protection Agency for a waste facility permit or licence for the storage and-or sorting of waste.
As Minister, I do not provide any supports to any organisation, commercial or community-based, to facilitate the establishment of waste collection services. As the Deputy may be aware, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, is conducting an independent study on the operation of the household waste collection market. The ongoing results from the Price Monitoring Group, in conjunction with the study being undertaken by the CCPC, will provide an evidence base for future policy decisions on the household waste market.
I accept the point that Deputy makes about the confusion about what goes into which bin. As of the end of last year, we have a uniform list of what goes into the recycling bin. That is available and we have been running campaigns about that. Whether one is in Cork, Fingal, Roscommon or Cavan, the same material goes into the green recycling bin.
We could spend the rest of the day debating what is not on any of those lists and the confusion that arises, but the point I am trying to get at is that we need to be a bit creative. I am not talking about the responsibilities of a local authority per se but the attitude of the local community, particularly from the point of view of acting on a co-operative basis. Last year, a good community activist in Swords, where I live, Dean Mulligan, and I conducted a survey of approximately 2,000 households which were not impressed with the bin service and were sick of the different bin companies going up and down their roads. There was a desire by over 90% to buy in to a co-operative venture where they would run their own local service, just serving their estate with their own local labour, which they would control on a co-operative basis. In this area of climate change, with our emissions targets and the number of trucks on the roads, not to mention cost and value, surely that is something which the Minister's Department could play a role in, not necessarily subsidising it but stepping in and giving some form of direction and assistance.
From a climate change point of view, not to mind waste management, starting and keeping it local is best for the environment, the consumer and also potentially workers.
I hear what the Deputy says. First, we are open to considering any suggestion or idea to reduce the generation of waste in the first place. That must be the number one priority. The difficulty with the Deputy's suggestion is that the logistical cost involved in collecting, segregating and managing waste for 2,000 houses would make it very expensive for the houses involved. As the Deputy is aware, there are only four landfill sites in the country. We have reduced the number from 24 in the previous decade and by the end of this year will be down to three landfill sites. My priority as Minister is to try to minimise the amount of waste going into landfill sites. We want to reduce the generation of waste in the first place, but where it is generated, we want to make sure it does not go into landfill sites. That requires scale in the segregation of waste, not just green waste but also brown waste and the residual waste that is put into the black bin so as to minimise the amount of material going into landfill sites.
Waste reduction is key. In that sense, householders are small change because, by and large, they are waste receivers, rather than waste producers. If we want to tackle waste generation, we must tackle the business and agriculture sectors.
I fully accept that what I am putting forward is not a solution to the national waste problem. However, it is potentially a solution in some areas. Independents 4 Change introduced a Bill prior to the summer recess to make it easier for people to establish co-operatives. For example, the Magpie Recycling Co-op in Brighton began with three volunteers collecting cans and glass in their locality. It expanded into the collection of recyclable materials such as old furniture and other materials and providing a service for 2,000 houses. Such co-ops could engage people who are not working or who are retired in reusing material in the local economy. Will the Minister consider a pilot project based on such a model? I accept that it would have to feed into a grid for the disposal of some waste, but such a pilot project could point to a really good way forward in terms of an initiative on the ground to deal with the footprint of trucks.
We are quite open to exploring the possibilities in terms of what the Deputy has outlined. My objective is to keep material out of landfill sites and anything that could help to do that would be positive.
Specifically on waste generation, important work is being undertaken by some of Ireland's leading agrifood businesses to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging in the food supply chain. I hope to make an announcement on an initiative shortly. The companies involved which represent significant but different elements of the food processing sector will use their collective power and food production experience to eliminate single use plastic packaging from the supply chain and replace it with new more sustainable alternatives. We will all welcome this in our supermarkets and shops.
To specifically address the other aspect of the Deputy's question, we are trying to focus on reducing the generation of waste in the first place and then to find novel solutions to divert waste away from landfill sites and other forms of disposal and encourage reuse. Next month is reuse month. I encourage all colleagues to participate in the initiatives in their local authority areas and encourage participation by the public.
