Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 135: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the monitoring carried out by his Department of waste that is collected as recyclable waste by local authorities and exported abroad for treatment and in particular if the Department is satisfied as to the percentage of that waste being recycled in the exporting countries and if the manner in which that waste recycled is in keeping with waste management policies here. [22221/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The EU Waste Shipments Regulation sets out the controls applicable to shipments of waste within, into, and out of the European Union. It is directly applicable in the Member States. All shipments of waste must follow various procedures and control regimes, which are determined by the type of waste shipped and the type of treatment that will be applied to the waste at its destination. Thus, different levels of control regime apply, depending on the risk posed by the waste and its treatment in terms of recovery or disposal.

In addition, exports to third countries of waste intended for disposal are prohibited, except to EFTA countries which are party to the Basel Convention. Exports of hazardous waste intended for recovery are prohibited, except those directed to countries to which an OECD decision applies, and to third countries which are party to the Basel Convention or countries which have concluded a bilateral agreement with the EU.

Under the Waste Management (Shipments of Waste) Regulations 2007, Dublin City Council is the competent authority designated to regulate exports of waste from the State and my Department has no function in the matter.