EPA loses track of 200,000 tonnes of household waste

MORE than 200,000 tonnes of household waste was unaccounted for in 2005, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The most likely outcome was that the rubbish was burned or illegally dumped, but local authorities are looking at ways to improve information on what happens to it.

Although the 202,940 tonnes classed in the EPA’s National Waste Report 2005 data update as uncollected household waste is 11% less than the previous year, it still accounts for more than one-seventh of all domestic rubbish.