Waste issue reaching crisis point

IRELAND could end up paying hundreds of millions of euro in fines unless we divert more waste away from traditional dumping (landfill) and meet EU targets.

The warning has come from PJ Rudden, one of the country’s leading waste management consultants who claims our waste policy is in crisis and is costing the economy. At the same time, opposition to burning waste continues and the heated debate about incineration rages.

Levels of household recycling in Ireland have increased dramatically since the late 1990s, but we are still well below the averages of other European countries. Recycling practices vary across the country and, in the absence of incineration, any waste not recycled has to go to landfill – at least that is what is supposed to happen.