Waste disposal - Fines must be avoided

NONE of us, especially those who use the roads and byways outside our cities or towns, can be proud of the way we dispose of waste.

Verges and hedgerows are littered in a mindless and appalling way.

This is just another manifestation of a mind set from a different time, one that might yet cost us hundreds of millions in EU fines. The EU Landfill Directive means we must dramatically curtail our traditional use of landfill dumps and use recycling and incineration more.

In this light, Environment Minister John Gormley’s zealous opposition to incineration seems out of step with reality as imagined by the rest of the EU.