Waste disposal - ‘Reduce, reuse and recycle’

IN YEARS to come the walls of anthropology departments in universities will be lined with theses considering our inaction when confronted with our impact on the environment.

Speaking at a conference yesterday Environment Minister John Gormley reiterated his position on waste disposal... “The waste hierarchy is sacrosanct. Reduce, reuse and recycle come first — incineration and landfill are at the very bottom,” was his commendable mantra.

Referring to incineration he said he may preclude local authorities from making “put or pay” deals guaranteeing to supply incineration firms with waste or compensate them if flows do not reach a required level.

It does not require the insight of a Sherlock Holmes to see that is a flawed arrangement. Surely the primary objective has to be to reduce waste?

This cart-before-the-horse arrangement once again shows how the needs of the market economy and the requirements of a responsible society are too often incompatible. Mr Gormley revealed details of a strengthened environmental policy. Among these is the establishment of an advisory Climate Change Commission with discussions to begin on membership this week.

He said his department was also pursuing pilot projects for harvesting rainwater for drinking supplies and he was keen to include representatives from environmental groups as social partners.

All of this is overdue but the time is coming when the carrot will have to be replaced with a big stick. No longer can we allow our environment to be polluted because we couldn’t be bothered to put proper waste treatment plants in place.

Indeed, Mr Gormley is perfectly placed to ensure this as local authorities, who fall under his remit, are some of the worst offenders — ask anyone in Galway who spent the summer boiling water.

However, the reality is that Mr Gormley can only do so much. Modification of our habits would be at least as effective. Otherwise the theses will not be written by anthropologists but by historians.