Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress made on increasing the levels of recycling in the construction industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36597/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's policy statement Changing Our Ways, September 1998, which provided a national policy framework for the adoption and implementation by local authorities of strategic waste management plans under which specific national objectives and targets would be achieved, set out specific targets for the recycling of construction and demolition waste of at least 50% by end 2003, rising progressively to at least 85% by end 2013.

A national construction and demolition waste council was established by the construction industry in June 2002 as a voluntary producer responsibility initiative to facilitate the achievement of the national construction and demolition waste recycling targets. In September 2004, the council launched its voluntary construction industry initiative which involves all key participants in the construction industry committing to a series of specific actions that have the overall objective of increasing recycling rates for construction and demolition waste. The initiative aims to concentrate on the major waste fractions in the early years and establish the most suitable practices for Ireland through practical experience. It is envisaged that further steps will be initiated at a later stage to focus on the remaining elements of construction and demolition waste.

In tandem with the launch of the voluntary construction industry initiative, my Department issued new draft best practice guidelines on the preparation of waste management plans for construction and demolition projects for public consultation. The aim of the draft guidelines is to promote an integrated approach to construction and demolition waste management throughout the duration of a project and to ensure the projects are designed to promote sustainable development, environmental protection and optimum use of resources. The guidelines introduce the concept of on-site construction and demolition waste management plans which would apply to projects above certain specified thresholds. It is my intention to finalise the draft guidelines as soon as possible following the completion of a comprehensive evaluation of the submissions recently received from the public consultation process. The finalised guidelines will be submitted to the national construction and demolition waste council for its formal endorsement.

The preparation and publication of national waste statistics is a matter for the Environmental Protection Agency and these statistics are published at three-yearly intervals by the agency. The most recent national waste database report in respect of 2001, which was published in July 2003, is the most comprehensive up-to-date source of information regarding waste arisings, infrastructure and management. The 2001 database report estimated that out of total construction and demolition waste arisings of 3,615,163 tonnes in that year, 2,364,866 tonnes — 65.4% — were recovered. This represented an increase from 1,171,572 tonnes recovered, or 43.3%, in 1998. The agency anticipates that the next full database report, in respect of 2004, will be available for publication by end 2005.