Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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227. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which it is expected to deal with waste management by way of reduce, reuse and recycle strategies, landfills continue to be relied upon or incineration is used, or proposed, as a means of waste management; the number of landfills currently in operation; the number of incinerators dealing with domestic waste; the extent to which the residues continue to be managed and dealt with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38813/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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228. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if studies have been done with a view to reducing the cost of waste management; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38814/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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230. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which reprocessing and recycling facilities are available in respect of plastic and rubber, with particular reference to the extent to which such facilities are readily available; the extent to which incentivisation is available to encourage investment in the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38816/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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231. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which consideration will be provided to encourage the collection and recycling of household plastic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38817/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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232. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the steps taken to encourage the provision of properly co-ordinated glass and plastic waste collection systems, with a view to the provision of a comprehensive recycling programme that is readily available to the householder who may not have the means of travelling to bottle banks or to other recycling facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38818/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 227, 228 and 230 to 232, inclusive, together.

Ireland has met, or is on course to meet, all of its main targets under the Waste Framework Directive, the Landfill Directive, the Batteries Directive, the WEEE Directive, and the Packaging Directive. Moreover, the National Waste Report 2012, which sets out the latest annual data and which is available on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, indicates that 40% of municipal waste was recycled in 2012: this compares with a 20.7% recycling rate ten years previously in 2002.  The report further highlights the fact that municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has decreased in the period 2006 to 2012, while the recovery of MSW generated has increased over the same period.

Government waste policy is predicated on the waste hierarchy as set out in the Waste Framework Directive and seeks to minimise the generation of waste. A number of specific measures have been, and will continue to be, introduced to reduce the volume of waste generated in the State in line with Government policy. Recent examples include the further roll-out of food waste collection services, and the introduction of three Regional Waste Management Plans in May 2015 which have a clear focus on waste prevention and resource efficiency.

Towards a Resource Efficient Ireland- A National Strategy to 2020, which is available on my Department’s website at the following web link, , incorporates Ireland’s National Waste Prevention Programme and sets out prio rities for preventing waste generation and the unnecessary consumption of materials, energy and water. The title of this document reflects the shift in emphasis at national and EU level towards resource efficiency, as opposed to focussing purely on waste prevention. In this regard, I intend to publish a consultation paper shortly on how the State can best maximise the value we extract from the waste we cannot prevent, especially in terms of maximising the job creation and energy potential of waste, while minimising our impact on the environment.

In relation to supporting higher rates of household recycling of various waste streams t he introduction of pay-by- weight as a collection permit condition as of 1 July 2015 and the forthcoming introduction of mandatory pay-by- weight charging for household waste in July 2016 and for commercial waste later in 2016 will be of central importance. Pay-by- weight charging will provide clear continuous pricing incentives to households and businesses to not only prevent, but also to segregate their waste to the greatest possible extent, which will further stimulate the collection and processing of recyclables materials. The additional availability of such material, such as food waste and recyclable plastic, provides an opportunity to the business sector and investors to exploit the potential of these resources. In addition, pay-by-weight charging will not be applied to the separate collection of glass, further encouraging this type of collection.

Considerable progress is being made towards the virtual phasing out of landfill for municipal waste. 28 landfills were accepting municipal waste for disposal in 2009 but only 7 landfills are now accepting such waste in 2015. While Ireland remains significantly reliant on export of our waste for treatment elsewhere, other domestic treatment facilities are coming on stream. The active and expected capacity for the thermal recovery of municipal solid waste is set out in the three recently launched Regional Waste Management Plans for the 2015-2021. The Plans support the development of up to another 300,000 tonnes of additional thermal recovery capacity in the State, including through the use of Solid Recovered Fuel in cement kilns; waste to energy; and pyrolysis. Currently, there is one waste-to-energy facility operating in the State at Carranstown Co. Meath, with an active capacity of 220,000 tonnes. The Dublin Waste-to-Energy plant under construction in Poolbeg has a pending capacity of 600,000 tonnes and is due to be fully operational in the second half of 2017. Information regarding the management of residues from waste to energy facilities is set out in each individual plant’s EPA licence, available on the EPA ’s website, .

As I have previously stated, Government policy is geared towards preventing waste in the first instance and then managing waste which cannot be prevented as a resource. In this regard, the above measures I have outlined are among the many actions being undertaken to ensure that Ireland will be well positioned to meet the requirements of the new European Commission proposal on the Circular Economy, which is expected to be published in December 2015.