Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 1496: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of tonnes of discarded wood that potentially could be recycled as fuel which is being discarded in landfill sites each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2144/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The recovery rates for wood and wood products in Ireland are already very high. The National Waste Report 2004 of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, shows that 92% of the wood contained in municipal waste was recovered in 2004, leaving about 14,000 tonnes for landfill. The recovery rate for wood and wood products in manufacturing waste was 98%, leaving just 4,000 tonnes for disposal. Finally, the EPA calculated that 85.2% of construction and demolition waste was recovered, which includes a wood fraction, although detailed data on the latter are not available.

My Department will continue to promote measures to ensure the highest possible level of recovery of waste wood in Ireland, including through the national strategy on biodegradable waste, which will be published shortly, and the guidelines on construction and demolition waste which are currently being finalised.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 1497: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the products exempted from the WEEE directive; if he will report on progress regarding recycling computers, parts and mobile phones; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2166/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The EU directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, required each member state to introduce regulations providing for a producer funded take-back scheme for consumers of end-of-life equipment from 13 August 2005.

The WEEE directive specifically excludes: equipment which is part of another type of equipment that does not fall within the scope of the directive, e.g. car radios; equipment which is connected with the protection of the essential interests of the security of member states, arms, munitions and war material; equipment which is not dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly, e.g. gas cookers with an electronic ignition; equipment which is designed for use with a voltage rating exceeding 1,000 volts for alternating current — AC — and 1,500 volts for direct current — DC; luminaires in households, e.g. light stands; filament bulbs; large-scale stationary industrial tools; and all implanted and infected products in medical devices.

The EU Commission has published a guidance document on the criteria for determining whether a product falls within the scope of the WEEE directive, a copy of which is available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie.

WEEE is now being collected from over 180 collection points nationwide. While details of WEEE collected by product category or equipment type is not yet available, early indications are that significant quantities of this waste type are being returned for recycling. In the first 12 weeks alone 4,800 tonnes, equivalent to an annual rate of almost 20,000 tonnes, of household WEEE was collected. This points to a fourfold increase in the recycling of household WEEE as 5,510 tonnes of this waste type was recovered in 2004 and indicates widespread public support for the implementation of the directive.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 1498: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the research which has been carried out on identifying best practice for separate compartment litter recycling bins; his views on the provision of these aids to recycling on streets, in Government buildings, transport concourses, stations and so on; the number located around the country; the Government's policy with regard to these aids to recycling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2167/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There has been significant progress in recovery and recycling of waste in Ireland in recent years. The Government policy document entitled, Waste Management: Changing Our Ways, 1998, set a target of 35% for diversion of municipal waste from landfill by 2013. The National Waste Report 2004 of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, shows that the recovery rate for municipal waste in that year was 34%. Increases in recycling have been achieved as a result of a range of policies introduced and supported by my Department including the provision of recycling facilities — 1929 bring banks and 69 civic amenity sites — and the roll-out of segregated waste collection services. In addition, my Department supports improved waste management performance by public bodies and other large organisations through the Race Against Waste campaign which aims to raise awareness of waste issues and change behaviour at home and at work in order to reduce the amount of waste being produced and increase recycling.

Under the campaign, an Action at Work programme was developed, in consultation with stakeholders, to provide advice to large organisations on how they can help staff and customers to reduce, reuse and recycle. An Action at Work pack was developed including material that set out specific actions, including segregating waste streams on site, that companies could take to improve recycling and help the environment. The programme also offers large organisations pro-active support through a helpline and nationwide seminars, run by waste management specialists, and tailored to each organisation. Information on this initiative is also available on the Internet at www.raceagainstwaste.ie.

In February of last year, I wrote to a number of large organisations, public and private sector, enclosing a copy of the Action at Work pack in order to further promote participation in the Race Against Waste by such organisations.

While street cleansing waste makes up a relatively minor proportion of municipal waste at less than 2.5%, placing segregated litter bins in prominent locations can play a role in encouraging greater awareness of the importance of recycling. I am aware that Dublin City Council, in partnership with Repak, has placed such segregated bins in a number of high profile locations in Dublin city centre. Notwithstanding this, such schemes have limited potential to contribute significantly to overall recycling rates having regard to the low proportion of municipal waste accounted for by street cleansing waste and issues concerning cross-contamination of dry recyclables,