Vol. 557 No. 1
427 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the facilities which exist for the separation and recycling of ozone depleting substances here; the plans in this area the Government has during its term of office; the specific legislation which covers this operation at the moment; if further legislation is planned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21411/02]
EC Regulation 2037/2000 provides for the control of ozone depleting substances (ODS) within the EU, and the regulation is directly enforceable and binding in Ireland on all persons involved in production, importation, exportation, placing on the market, use, recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction of controlled substances defined under the regulation. I am considering national provisions for a compliance regime, including appropriate sanctions for non-compliance with the regulation.
Specifically where fridges and freezers are concerned, this regulation together with European Commission Decision 2000/532/EC – which revised the EU list of hazardous waste – affects the disposal of such fridges and freezers manufactured before 1994 which contain CFCs in insulating foam as well as in fridge coolant. While technology is available in Ireland for the removal of CFCs from the coolants, no equipment is available yet for the removal of the insulating foam. Accordingly, since 1 January fridges and freezers cannot be dealt with by the traditional method of degassing, recovering the metal and sending the remaining waste to landfill.
I understand that, in the absence of treatment facilities in Ireland – a problem also being experienced in other EU member states – a number of local authorities have made arrangements for the storage of fridges and freezers or for their export to appropriate European recovery facilities. Such arrangements may involve co-operation with private waste companies.
In the interests of a longer term solution and within the co-operative framework of the North-South Ministerial Council, my Department has developed an all-island approach to this issue in co-operation with the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland. Tenders were sought in September 2002 on behalf of all local authorities on the island for the provision of a service for the management of waste fridges and freezers. These tenders are being considered with a view to the provision of such a service as soon as possible.
