Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 381: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the amount of food waste that is disposed of to landfill on an annual basis with a breakdown of same per county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5682/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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National waste statistics for all waste streams are independently produced and published by the EPA. National Waste Reports have been published in respect of the years 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2006 with interim reports published for 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007 respectively. These reports are available on the Agency's website: www.epa.ie.

While there is no specific information available to my Department on the volumes of food waste consigned to landfill, the National Waste Reports provide data in relation to the organic fraction of the municipal waste stream. Organic waste, in broad terms, is taken to mean food and garden waste arising in the domestic and commercial sectors.

The recent National Waste Report 2007, published in January 2009, estimated that a total of 839,806 tonnes, or 91.4%, of organic waste was landfilled in 2007. Improving our recovery rates for organic waste represents a considerable challenge and one that must be addressed as a matter of urgency if Ireland is to achieve its prescribed diversion targets for biodegradable municipal waste under Directive 99/31/EC on the landfill of waste (the Landfill Directive).

Meeting these targets will entail doubling the existing levels of diversion of biodegradable municipal waste, which includes organic waste, from landfill by 2010 with exponential increases in diversion in the subsequent target years of 2013 and 2016 respectively.

Following extensive consultations, a National Strategy on Biodegradable Waste was published in April 2006 which sets out measures aimed at the separate collection, recovery and recycling of biodegradable municipal waste with a view to achieving the progressive diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill in accordance with our international obligations. The Strategy envisages that 80% of biodegradable municipal waste will be diverted from landfill by 2016, with the separate collection and subsequent biological treatment of organic waste to generate compost having a critical role to play in minimising the use of landfill into the future. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to implementation of the National Strategy.

In 2008, a circular issued to all local authorities to drive forward the roll out of brown bins for domestic householders and to promote the use of home composting. I have also signalled my intention to introduce primary legislation to allow for significant increases in the landfill levy to act as a further deterrent to landfill and a regulatory impact analysis for this purpose has now been completed. In addition, my Department is working with industry towards the development of a statutory instrument to require the source segregation and appropriate treatment of food waste arising in the commercial sector. This, I believe, has the potential to divert significant amounts of food waste from landfill towards more sustainable and environmentally beneficial practices.

I am confident that all of the above measures will contribute significantly to the achievement of the targets for the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill and in an overall reduction in our use of landfill.