Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Senator Coffey asked about the waste management strategy. I share many of his reservations and, on a personal note, I have always felt some discomfort regarding the carbon footprint caused by sending recycled material as far afield as China. If recycling requires the existence of markets, dealing with waste under the proximity principle means that recycled materials should be used close to where they were collected. Value can be added by expanding the country's recycling industry and the waste management strategy is predicated on that.

The Minister has already stated that if we introduce incineration, which the Green Party opposes, the capacity will be no greater than 200,000 tonnes.