Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 223: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he is intending to prepare a national waste food recycling management policy in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20365/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Under Article 5 of Directive1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste, each Member State of the European Union is required to prepare and oversee the implementation of a National Strategy on Biodegradable Waste which will set out measures progressively to divert biodegradable municipal waste away from landfill in accordance with specified targets over the period to 2016.

In April 2006, Ireland's first National Strategy on Biodegradable Waste set out a range of integrated measures designed to facilitate the achievement of these challenging diversion targets. 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 (i.e. food and garden waste) to generate compost having a critical role in minimising the use of landfill into the future. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to implementation of the National Strategy on Biodegradable Waste.

Against this background, a detailed circular issued in summer 2008 to all local authorities to drive forward the roll out of brown bins for domestic householders and to promote the use of home composting. In tandem with the above, 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. Consultations are ongoing with a wide range of stakeholders in this regard, including the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food given the cross-cutting issues concerning the treatment and subsequent reuse of animal by-products. It is envisaged that these regulations, when made, will have the potential to divert significant amounts of commercial food waste from landfill towards more sustainable and environmentally beneficial practices.

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 recently been completed to inform the legislative process. In the light of the above, I am confident that all of the measures outlined will contribute significantly to the achievement of the targets for the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfill and to an overall reduction in our use of landfill going forward.