Govt accused of waste management trickery

The Government has adopted a Paul Daniels approach to waste management, the Green Party claimed today.

Party leader Trevor Sargent said that environment minister Martin Cullen was trying to convince the public that the incineration of rubbish would magically make waste disappear.

Mr Sargent said: “Minister Cullen has attacked proponents of a zero waste policy, accusing them of a Paul Daniels approach to waste management and suggests that they pretend there is a magic wand somewhere that will make waste disappear.

“In fact, this accusation can be more accurately directed at the minister, who is trying to convince the public that incinerators will magically make waste disappear.”

The party called for a zero-waste policy and Patricia McKenna MEP said the European Commission should look at tighter laws around planning permission to end the building of incinerators.

She said: “Not only is it the sane way forward, not only from an economic point of view, it’s also the logical way forward.”