Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 473: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his and the Government's policy on waste management; the extent to which it is intended to provide facilities along such lines in each of the next four years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21173/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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In line with the commitment given in the Programme for Government the review of waste policy, which is currently being initiated, will involve a comprehensive examination of a broad range of waste management issues, including infrastructural provision, particularly in the context of meeting the challenging waste diversion target that Ireland is required to meet under Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste.

In the interim, my Department continues to provide grants towards the capital development of facilities such as bring banks, civic amenity sites, composting facilities and material recovery facilities. My Department will also continue to provide a subvention to local authorities to assist them in meeting the operational costs associated with the running of their recycling facilities.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 476: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the extent to which the total domestic and other waste is being catered for by way of recycling, landfill or incineration; the extent to which it is intended to develop these services in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21176/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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National waste statistics for all waste streams are published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the most recent National Waste Report being in respect of the year 2006. The following progress has been made in regard to waste recovery and recycling in the municipal waste stream in Ireland: the quantity of municipal waste (i.e. household and commercial waste) managed amounted to 3,100,310 tonnes in 2006 of which 1,980,618 tonnes was consigned to landfill with the remaining 1,119,692 tonnes sent for recovery, equating to an overall national recovery rate of 36.1%. In effect, our national target of 35% set for 2013 in the Government policy statement Changing Our Ways has been exceeded almost seven years ahead of schedule; household waste accounted for 1,773,246 tonnes of the municipal waste stream of which 1,379,246 tonnes was landfilled with 393,995 tonnes (22.2%) reported as being recovered in 2006. A significant challenge remains to achieve our national diversion target of 50% by 2013 as set in Changing Our Ways; a national recovery rate of 54.7% was reported for commercial waste with 725,697 tonnes recovered and the remaining 601,372 tonnes deposited to landfill. This represents a 5.3% increase in recovery on the 2005 figures; 57.3% or 589,519 tonnes of packaging waste was recovered in 2006 indicating that Ireland continues to exceed its 50% target required under Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste and is well on the way to achieving its mandatory 60% target required by end 2011 under the amending Directive 2004/12/EC. A total of 438,952 tonnes of packaging waste was consigned to landfill in 2006; recovery operators reported that circa 28,000 tonnes of packaging waste was exported for use as a fuel in 2006; a total of 866,969 tonnes (38%) of biodegradable municipal waste was recovered in 2006 with the balance of 1,412,581 tonnes disposed of to landfill. Under the Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) Ireland must restrict the landfill of biodegradable municipal waste to no more than 967,433 tonnes by 2010 and to no more than 451,469 tonnes by 2016. The roll-out of the "brown bin" will play a key role in diverting substantial volumes of organic waste from landfill to facilitate the achievement of the challenging targets under Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste.

The Programme for Government clearly sets out the approach to waste management that will be reflected in national policy in the years ahead. It is firmly grounded in a continuing commitment to the waste hierarchy with a renewed drive towards the achievement of international best practice in the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste. This, coupled with an increasing emphasis on technologies for the mechanical and biological treatment of waste, will significantly reduce potential reliance on landfill and incineration. This commitment to the waste hierarchy has added significance in the context of the requirements of the Landfill Directive to divert biodegradable municipal waste from landfill. Meeting this obligation will entail doubling the existing level of diversion from landfill by 2010 and further increases in diversion in subsequent years.

To assist the process of ensuring that our waste management system can act in support of these objectives my Department is currently initiating a major review of waste management policy as set out in the Programme for Government. The review will chart a new way forward. Given the need to accelerate movement away from landfill quite dramatically, we need to examine all the technologies that can contribute to optimising our environmental performance in relation to waste. The review will be designed, in addition, to support the necessary legal, institutional and policy framework to achieve international best practice in the management of our waste. If the outcome of the review indicates a need for significant legislative changes I will bring the necessary proposals to Government in this regard.