City disposal firms silent on practice of shipping waste abroad for incineration

Household waste from Cork city and county is being shipped out of Cork Port for incineration in the Netherlands and Sweden, where its used to generate electricity.

The practice started in the spring and 28,000 tonnes of waste has been dispatched. It is expected that, by year’s end, 50,000 tonnes will be sent for incineration.

However, two of the biggest domestic waste collectors in Cork have refused to disclose to the Irish Examiner whether they are shipping their waste overseas.

Country Clean and Wiser Bins failed to respond to emails and phonecalls yesterday asking if they were exporting waste.

It is understood the waste exports are in response to rising landfill costs in the southern region. It is believed the waste is being sold by the bin collection companies to Indaver, which ships it overseas. Shipments of domestic waste leave Cork port every three weeks.

Cork City Council yesterday said that any waste that it collected was sold on to Greenstar, which either recycled it or disposed of it in landfills elsewhere in Ireland. The council does not operate any landfills.

Cork County Council said if any waste permit holder decided to transfer its waste to facilities other than that approved by them in this country, it must submit full details in writing, including origin of waste material, location of transfer facility, and the waste permit details of the new facility.

The only local authority owned landfill in Cork is in Youghal. A €46.8m facility was developed at Bottlehill but was put in cold storage last year as it would not be financially viable with reduced waste output.

Indaver has spent 11 years trying to develop an incinerator at Ringaskiddy in Cork. Last year, its municipal and hazardous waste-to-energy plant was rejected by An Bord Pleanála. The company is taking a judicial review against the decision, saying the board failed to take into account that the county council was planning to leave the waste collection sector.

The review is due to be heard this month.