John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I have not made any statement in regard to the number of municipal waste incinerators which may be developed. Such developments are matters for local authorities, in the context of their statutory responsibilities under the Waste Management Acts, and for commercial decision by the private sector.

The Government's policy in regard to waste management is clearly set out in the programme for Government. It is firmly grounded in a continuing commitment to the waste hierarchy with a renewed drive towards the achievement of international best practice in the reduction, re-use and recycling of waste. There is a commitment to meeting our national objectives and EU obligations through an increasing emphasis on technologies for mechanical and biological treatment, MBT, of a growing volume of municipal waste. This will significantly reduce the future need for incineration capacity. My Department has carried out detailed projections of municipal waste up to 2016 taking account of continued progress in our recycling performance. These show that MBT capacity of between 900,000 and 1 million tonnes per annum will enable Ireland to meet its landfill diversion targets under the EU Landfill Directive while reducing the amount requiring further treatment to about 400,000 tonnes. MBT capacity of between 1.3 million and 1.4 million tonnes will enable us to meet the more challenging programme for Government target of sending only 10% of all waste to landfill.

As provided for in the programme for Government, my Department is initiating a major international review of waste management policy which will in part focus on how best to advance the use of the full range of technologies available for waste management. I am confident that we can rapidly move away from a position where incineration is regarded as the only viable solution for waste management to one in which we can exploit a much broader range of technologies to meet our targets in the most environmentally benign way possible.

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