Written answers
Tuesday, 8 February 2005
Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Waste Management
8:00 pm
Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 514: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government concerning waste management, the amount of revenue allocated to prevention and minimisation of waste, to reusing, to recycling, to composting and to the landfilling of waste in each of the past five years. [3412/05]
Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Government policy is premised on the promotion of the sustainable use of natural resources and the reduction of negative environmental impacts. This process is not confined to the waste phase but also relates to such areas as the use of raw materials, production processes, energy efficiency and the application of more ecologically efficient methods as well as the sound environmental management of products at the end of their lives. Thus, waste management is a shared responsibility and embraces a broad perspective and range of responsibilities, including financial, on stakeholders, both public and private.
The Government's approach is based on the internationally recognised waste management hierarchy of prevention and minimisation, significantly increased levels of recycling, energy recovery and finally, utilising landfill as the last resort for residual waste that cannot otherwise be recovered.
Detailed national policy on waste management is outlined in three Government policy statements on waste management: Changing Our Ways, 1998; Delivering Change, 2002; and Taking Stock, Moving Forward, 2004. These publications are available in the Oireachtas Library.
My Department's allocations towards the prevention and minimisation of waste including composting, re-use and recycling each of the last five years which are set out in the following table:
| Description | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| â'¬000 | â'¬000 | â'¬000 | â'¬000 | â'¬000 | |
| Environment awareness, including the race against waste campaign | 1,775 | 1,778 | 1,901 | 3,927 | 3,707 |
| National waste prevention, market development and recycling programmes | 3,800 | 3,947 | |||
| North-South Ministerial Council waste management, including North-South scheme for the management of waste fridges and freezers and INTERREG | 76 | 80 | 1,580 | 2,646 | |
| Subvention of local authority recycling operational costs. | 5,000 | 7,000 | |||
| Waste management, including recycling projects, 2000 to 2002; waste management infrastructure 2003 and 2004. | 10,437 | 13,937 | 31,110 | 29,000 | 40,000 |
These supplemented significant own source expenditure by local authorities and Repak, the industry-based producer responsibility initiative for packaging waste recycling. My Department does not fund or subsidised landfill operations. These are the responsibility of local authorities and are based on charges applied in accordance with the polluter pays principle. Annual allocations include committed funding not drawn down in the previous year. Allocations for 2005 will be announced shortly.
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