State faces exporting waste as dumps close

A MOUNTING waste management crisis could force large-scale exporting of waste, as six local authorities have closed their main dumps and 22 more face closure within five years.

Kildare, Leitrim, Longford, Meath, Sligo and Wicklow county councils are already using the landfill facilities of other local authorities.

In Cork, the situation is particularly serious, with the main municipal dump at Kinsale Road due to close on January 1, 2005, and a replacement dump at Bottlehill still awaiting licensing from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Contractors are being sought by the city council to dispose of waste for 18 months as an interim strategy when Kinsale Road closes.