Waste: The way ahead in waste
Friday, May 13th, 2011The Government’s waste policy is starting to take shape. Higher landfill levies are designed to meet EU targets over two years but could also raise the cost of collection. Ireland needs a major move away from landfill to reach EU targets, according to Environment Minister Phil Hogan who hopes to finalise the Government’s waste policy by the end of the year. To start that process, Hogan has introduced the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to the Dáil which will almost double the landfill levy from September. By 2013, Ireland will be limited to a maximum of 610,000 tonnes...[full story]
Environment: Re-use, repair, recycle
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010The waste hierarchy in Ireland is skewed towards landfill and incineration, rather than prevention, recycling and energy recovery, leading environmental consultant Jack O’Sullivan tells Meadhbh Monahan. “The logic of how we do things in Ireland beats me,” O’Sullivan begins. Although things have gotten better since the regulation of landfill sites began in the 1970s and the overall rise in awareness of ‘green’ issues, Ireland’s waste policy is dictated by private waste companies. “We’ve let that get to the stage where big waste companies are dominating the policies....[full story]
Environment: The economics of waste
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010Setting levies, allowing councils to choose their preferred technology and competitive tendering for household collection are the way forward for waste, the ESRI’s Paul Gorecki tells Peter Cheney. Amid the dispute over the Poolbeg incinerator, the ESRI report commissioned by Dublin City Council is one of the most substantial contributions. ‘An Economic Approach to Municipal Waste Management Policy in Ireland’ was published in February and its lead author is research professor Paul Gorecki. The objective of public policy using the economic approach is to maximise the welfare of...[full story]
Environment: Investing in water
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010A summary of the Water Services Investment Programme for 2010-2012. Three hundred and forty new contracts, worth €1.8 billion, along with €1 billion of work under way, are to be delivered by the Government’s Water Services Investment Programme over the next two years. The programme was launched in April 2010 and follows on from a €5.5 billion investment into the sector from 2000 onwards. Maria Graham, from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, outlined the programme at the Environment Ireland conference. Two-thirds of the previous programme was invested...[full story]
Environment: Energy from waste
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009As Ireland prepares to modernise its waste infrastructure over the next few years, energy-from-waste will no doubt be part of the future technology mix to avoid waste going to landfill. eolas looks at the technology options and issues involved in generating energy from waste. The Waste Framework Directive 2006 aims to avoid waste going to landfill, by encouraging the prevention and recovery of waste. The use of waste as a source of energy may be accepted as recovery. Several European countries have deployed energy-from-waste technology to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill...[full story]
