IF every citizen on the planet produced as much waste as the Irish, mankind would need three planet Earths to survive, the Environmental Protection Agency warned yesterday.
And urgent action is needed if Ireland is to meet an EU target for diverting household waste from landfill and avoid paying millions of euro in fines.
The EPA's National Waste Report 2007 published yesterday said that diverting food waste from landfill must be the main priority for 2009, noting that household waste generated has not risen "appreciably", with recycling rates remaining "steady".
However, it warned that levels of consumption must be addressed.
"It is worth noting that the collection of increasing quantities of waste for disposal or recycling reflects a level of production and consumption that is unsustainable," the report said.
"Recent ecological footprint analysis for Ireland established that if everyone on the planet consumed as much as an Irish resident, then we would need three Earths to support current global resource consumption," it added.
"While it is apparent that consumers need to keep consuming to maintain prosperity, the business model must change to provide goods and services using less resources."
The report also found:
* The quantity of municipal (non-commercial) waste recycled increased by 3.6pc. Household rates were up 8pc, and packaging waste increased by 14pc.
* 36pc of municipal waste was recycled, exceeding the 2013 recycling target of 35pc.
* More than a quarter of household waste was recycled. While satisfactory, there remains considerable distance to reduce the landfilling of household waste to 50pc by 2013.
* 64pc of packaging waste was recycled, above EU targets.
* The average person recycled 8.7kg of electrical and electronic equipment, more than double the EU target of 4kg per head.
* Recycling of biodegradable municipal waste, such as food waste and garden clippings, fell by 2.7pc, with the amount sent to landfill increasing.
Landfill
"Although significant progress has been made in managing waste in Ireland, the report clearly shows that Ireland is in danger of missing a key EU target for diverting biodegradable municipal waste from landfill," EPA director Laura Burke said.
"Urgent and short-term actions are required in 2009 to tackle the generation and recycling of food waste from households and businesses if we are to meet the 2010 target for diverting an additional half a million tonnes of this waste from landfill."
Labour's Environment spokeswoman Joanna Tuffy said that under a Green minister, Ireland was moving away from EU targets on reducing waste being sent to landfill.
"The report shows that we are sending more food and garden waste to landfill, not less, and that only eight out of 34 local authorities provide a service collecting organic waste from households," she said.
"I welcome the fact that the minister has targeted this area for improvement in 2009, because there is no doubt that improvement is badly needed," she added.
Environment Minister John Gormley said the focus needed to move towards waste prevention, and that new regulations would require commercial premises to recycle food waste.
Levies would be increased for sending waste to landfill, and composting would become "more economically attractive".
He added that agreement would be reached with producers to reduce the amount of packaging used in food.
The EPA says that services must be put in place to separate organic waste, such as food, from other waste streams.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label planning and waste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planning and waste. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Urgent action needed as our waste now at unsustainable levels
IF every citizen on the planet produced as much waste as the Irish, mankind would need three planet Earths to survive, the Environmental Protection Agency warned yesterday.
And urgent action is needed if Ireland is to meet an EU target for diverting household waste from landfill and avoid paying millions of euro in fines.
The EPA's National Waste Report 2007 published yesterday said that diverting food waste from landfill must be the main priority for 2009, noting that household waste generated has not risen "appreciably", with recycling rates remaining "steady".
However, it warned that levels of consumption must be addressed.
"It is worth noting that the collection of increasing quantities of waste for disposal or recycling reflects a level of production and consumption that is unsustainable," the report said.
"Recent ecological footprint analysis for Ireland established that if everyone on the planet consumed as much as an Irish resident, then we would need three Earths to support current global resource consumption," it added.
"While it is apparent that consumers need to keep consuming to maintain prosperity, the business model must change to provide goods and services using less resources."
The report also found:
* The quantity of municipal (non-commercial) waste recycled increased by 3.6pc. Household rates were up 8pc, and packaging waste increased by 14pc.
* 36pc of municipal waste was recycled, exceeding the 2013 recycling target of 35pc.
* More than a quarter of household waste was recycled. While satisfactory, there remains considerable distance to reduce the landfilling of household waste to 50pc by 2013.
* 64pc of packaging waste was recycled, above EU targets.
* The average person recycled 8.7kg of electrical and electronic equipment, more than double the EU target of 4kg per head.
* Recycling of biodegradable municipal waste, such as food waste and garden clippings, fell by 2.7pc, with the amount sent to landfill increasing.
Landfill
"Although significant progress has been made in managing waste in Ireland, the report clearly shows that Ireland is in danger of missing a key EU target for diverting biodegradable municipal waste from landfill," EPA director Laura Burke said.
"Urgent and short-term actions are required in 2009 to tackle the generation and recycling of food waste from households and businesses if we are to meet the 2010 target for diverting an additional half a million tonnes of this waste from landfill."
Labour's Environment spokeswoman Joanna Tuffy said that under a Green minister, Ireland was moving away from EU targets on reducing waste being sent to landfill.
"The report shows that we are sending more food and garden waste to landfill, not less, and that only eight out of 34 local authorities provide a service collecting organic waste from households," she said.
"I welcome the fact that the minister has targeted this area for improvement in 2009, because there is no doubt that improvement is badly needed," she added.
Environment Minister John Gormley said the focus needed to move towards waste prevention, and that new regulations would require commercial premises to recycle food waste.
Levies would be increased for sending waste to landfill, and composting would become "more economically attractive".
He added that agreement would be reached with producers to reduce the amount of packaging used in food.
The EPA says that services must be put in place to separate organic waste, such as food, from other waste streams.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
And urgent action is needed if Ireland is to meet an EU target for diverting household waste from landfill and avoid paying millions of euro in fines.
The EPA's National Waste Report 2007 published yesterday said that diverting food waste from landfill must be the main priority for 2009, noting that household waste generated has not risen "appreciably", with recycling rates remaining "steady".
However, it warned that levels of consumption must be addressed.
"It is worth noting that the collection of increasing quantities of waste for disposal or recycling reflects a level of production and consumption that is unsustainable," the report said.
"Recent ecological footprint analysis for Ireland established that if everyone on the planet consumed as much as an Irish resident, then we would need three Earths to support current global resource consumption," it added.
"While it is apparent that consumers need to keep consuming to maintain prosperity, the business model must change to provide goods and services using less resources."
The report also found:
* The quantity of municipal (non-commercial) waste recycled increased by 3.6pc. Household rates were up 8pc, and packaging waste increased by 14pc.
* 36pc of municipal waste was recycled, exceeding the 2013 recycling target of 35pc.
* More than a quarter of household waste was recycled. While satisfactory, there remains considerable distance to reduce the landfilling of household waste to 50pc by 2013.
* 64pc of packaging waste was recycled, above EU targets.
* The average person recycled 8.7kg of electrical and electronic equipment, more than double the EU target of 4kg per head.
* Recycling of biodegradable municipal waste, such as food waste and garden clippings, fell by 2.7pc, with the amount sent to landfill increasing.
Landfill
"Although significant progress has been made in managing waste in Ireland, the report clearly shows that Ireland is in danger of missing a key EU target for diverting biodegradable municipal waste from landfill," EPA director Laura Burke said.
"Urgent and short-term actions are required in 2009 to tackle the generation and recycling of food waste from households and businesses if we are to meet the 2010 target for diverting an additional half a million tonnes of this waste from landfill."
Labour's Environment spokeswoman Joanna Tuffy said that under a Green minister, Ireland was moving away from EU targets on reducing waste being sent to landfill.
"The report shows that we are sending more food and garden waste to landfill, not less, and that only eight out of 34 local authorities provide a service collecting organic waste from households," she said.
"I welcome the fact that the minister has targeted this area for improvement in 2009, because there is no doubt that improvement is badly needed," she added.
Environment Minister John Gormley said the focus needed to move towards waste prevention, and that new regulations would require commercial premises to recycle food waste.
Levies would be increased for sending waste to landfill, and composting would become "more economically attractive".
He added that agreement would be reached with producers to reduce the amount of packaging used in food.
The EPA says that services must be put in place to separate organic waste, such as food, from other waste streams.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
www.buckplanning.ie
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Gormley says 'hands tied' over Poolbeg incinerator
The Minister for the Environment has greeted the decision to grant an incinerator plant licence at Poolbeg by stating he was personally opposed to incineration but was legally forbidden to intervene.
The Dublin 4 incinerator will be the first of its kind in the capital and one of the biggest such facilities in Europe, burning up to 600,000 tonnes of waste every year.
More than 216 conditions are included in the terms of the licence, relating to the environmental management, operation, control and monitoring of the proposed facility.
Noting planning permission was already granted for this facility, John Gormley said he was, as Minister precluded from any involvement in the process. He said the EPA decision was not unexpected as in November last year it had issued a draft license for the scheme.
“My personal position as a local resident and public representative in regard to incineration generally, and this facility in particular, is well known and has not changed,” said Mr Gormley, who lives in nearby Ringsend.
“As Minister, I work within a legal framework put in place by the Oireachtas which forbids my intervention in the physical planning and environmental licensing regimes. Prior to my appointment as Minister for the Environment, as local TD I made an oral submission to An Bord Pleanála opposing the proposed incinerator.
“There are no effective provisions within current waste management law or policy which would enable me, as Minister, to intervene directly in a PPP project which began more than a decade ago, and where tenders were approved two years before I took office,” he said.
Mr Gormley added he was instead focusing on a “fundamental review” of waste management policy to ensure a shift away from incineration. That review should finish in 2009, he added.
The Minister said he was also assessing a policy to restrict local authorities from directing waste to incinerators or landfill, and whether caps should be placed on levels of waste being incinerated. Mr Gormley said he also hoped to present proposals on a waste levy “in the near future”.
But Fine Gael Dublin South East TD Lucinda Creighton urged Mr Gormley to intervene over the licence award.
“This is a bizarre decision from an organisation that is supposed to protect our environment. The Poolbeg incinerator will be built on a site that is designated as an environmental protection area by the EU,” she said.
“The only option now, besides an astronomically expensive trip to the High Court, is for Minister Gormley to stop this project going ahead. According to Ms Creighton, the Minister “purported to be vehemently opposed to the incinerator in 2007 right up to general election but has now “sat on his hands”.
In a statement, former Labour leader Ruairí Quinn and local party politicians called on the Minister to fund a judicial review of the decision.
“John Gormley needs to show his Green credentials and fund a judicial review on behalf of the local community in the High Court. He could have used his powers as a Minister to put a stop to the incinerator. This really is his last chance to act. If he doesn’t, he will be to blame if this incinerator is built,” the Labour statement said.
Labour also raised doubts over Dublin’s ability to provide the 600,000 tonnes of waste a year for the plant as agreed under the licence. “There are serious concerns that the city will be unable to provide this much waste. If it can’t, all taxpayers will have to pay the owners of the incinerator. This is madness.”
Green Party Cllr Bronwen Maher said. “There are real concerns over the impact this incinerator will have on the health of the local population. Air quality levels in the area will deteriorate with the amount of traffic going to and from the incinerator plant.
“Furthermore, in the Green Party submission to the oral hearing on the waste licence it was shown that there will not be enough residual waste for this incinerator.”
Sinn Féin Cllr Daithí Doolan labelled the granting of a licence a “travesty” that would not be accepted by the local community. He called on Mr Gormley to consider his cabinet position as a result of the decision.
Dublin City Council, noting the decision, said the 216 individual licence conditions would be examined with the service provider, and that work on the plant would not start for “some time”.
The council said it would study community issues raised by the project and would arrange on open day in the local community on the January 17th, 2009.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The Dublin 4 incinerator will be the first of its kind in the capital and one of the biggest such facilities in Europe, burning up to 600,000 tonnes of waste every year.
More than 216 conditions are included in the terms of the licence, relating to the environmental management, operation, control and monitoring of the proposed facility.
Noting planning permission was already granted for this facility, John Gormley said he was, as Minister precluded from any involvement in the process. He said the EPA decision was not unexpected as in November last year it had issued a draft license for the scheme.
“My personal position as a local resident and public representative in regard to incineration generally, and this facility in particular, is well known and has not changed,” said Mr Gormley, who lives in nearby Ringsend.
“As Minister, I work within a legal framework put in place by the Oireachtas which forbids my intervention in the physical planning and environmental licensing regimes. Prior to my appointment as Minister for the Environment, as local TD I made an oral submission to An Bord Pleanála opposing the proposed incinerator.
“There are no effective provisions within current waste management law or policy which would enable me, as Minister, to intervene directly in a PPP project which began more than a decade ago, and where tenders were approved two years before I took office,” he said.
Mr Gormley added he was instead focusing on a “fundamental review” of waste management policy to ensure a shift away from incineration. That review should finish in 2009, he added.
The Minister said he was also assessing a policy to restrict local authorities from directing waste to incinerators or landfill, and whether caps should be placed on levels of waste being incinerated. Mr Gormley said he also hoped to present proposals on a waste levy “in the near future”.
But Fine Gael Dublin South East TD Lucinda Creighton urged Mr Gormley to intervene over the licence award.
“This is a bizarre decision from an organisation that is supposed to protect our environment. The Poolbeg incinerator will be built on a site that is designated as an environmental protection area by the EU,” she said.
“The only option now, besides an astronomically expensive trip to the High Court, is for Minister Gormley to stop this project going ahead. According to Ms Creighton, the Minister “purported to be vehemently opposed to the incinerator in 2007 right up to general election but has now “sat on his hands”.
In a statement, former Labour leader Ruairí Quinn and local party politicians called on the Minister to fund a judicial review of the decision.
“John Gormley needs to show his Green credentials and fund a judicial review on behalf of the local community in the High Court. He could have used his powers as a Minister to put a stop to the incinerator. This really is his last chance to act. If he doesn’t, he will be to blame if this incinerator is built,” the Labour statement said.
Labour also raised doubts over Dublin’s ability to provide the 600,000 tonnes of waste a year for the plant as agreed under the licence. “There are serious concerns that the city will be unable to provide this much waste. If it can’t, all taxpayers will have to pay the owners of the incinerator. This is madness.”
Green Party Cllr Bronwen Maher said. “There are real concerns over the impact this incinerator will have on the health of the local population. Air quality levels in the area will deteriorate with the amount of traffic going to and from the incinerator plant.
“Furthermore, in the Green Party submission to the oral hearing on the waste licence it was shown that there will not be enough residual waste for this incinerator.”
Sinn Féin Cllr Daithí Doolan labelled the granting of a licence a “travesty” that would not be accepted by the local community. He called on Mr Gormley to consider his cabinet position as a result of the decision.
Dublin City Council, noting the decision, said the 216 individual licence conditions would be examined with the service provider, and that work on the plant would not start for “some time”.
The council said it would study community issues raised by the project and would arrange on open day in the local community on the January 17th, 2009.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Rathcoole waste plant oral hearing begins
THE DEVELOPER of a €250 million waste-to-energy plant proposed for west Dublin has moved to reassure the State's top bloodstock figures and local communities that the technology involved would have no adverse effects on human or animal health.
At the opening of a Bord Pleanála hearing yesterday, the developer acknowledged 276 "objections and observations" including "objections raised in relation to the possible adverse consequences of the project on the bloodstock industry in Co Kildare".
The proposed facility would be located on a 14-hectare site at Behan's Quarry south of Rathcoole, on the Kildare/Dublin border.
Among the bloodstock interests granted observer status at the hearing - which allows them to attend and raise issues of concern - are some of Ireland's best-known bloodstock industry names.
These include Goffs plc, Kill International Equestrian Centre, The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, Naas racecourse and Cavan Developments Bloodstock.
The proposal was outlined at the planning hearing yesterday by senior counsel James Connolly, for the developer Energy Answers International. He said it was anticipated, in relation to the bloodstock industry, that reference would be made to a previous refusal of planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a project in Co Tipperary.
But he said the Rosegreen project, a proposed meat and bone meal incinerator plant that drew concerted opposition from bloodstock interests, was very different. Rosegreen, he said, featured an intake high in organic material from abattoir waste; utilised anaerobic digestion; was based on a regional road; was in the vicinity of a high number of stud and racing stables; and was "unprecedented in size in Europe". None of these factors applied to the Rathcoole project, he said.
Outlining a list of expert Irish and international witnesses who would be brought forward over the course of the next three hearing days, Mr Connolly said the company would show there "is no scientific basis for concern".
He said it was misleading to refer to the project as an "incinerator". In fact it was "much more than a waste-to-energy process and far more advanced than simple incineration".
However, the comments did little to reassure a number of protesters who had been picketing the inquiry from early yesterday morning. Outside the hearing Deborah McDermott of Raid (Rathcoole Against Incinerator Dioxins) said that, as a mother of three and a chemist, she was completely opposed to the project. "Dioxins are carcinogenic", she said.
Also among the protesters was Fine Gael Senator Frances Fitzgerald who said the proposal "would make incineration the cornerstone of our waste management policy". Ms Fitzgerald said she had written to the Minister for the Environment asking him to reiterate the new Government policy, and ensure that Bord Pleanála took note of it.
Local councillor Therese Ridge said she was concerned about the effects of the plant on the local Holy Family school. Parents and teachers were united in their opposition to the proposal, she said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
At the opening of a Bord Pleanála hearing yesterday, the developer acknowledged 276 "objections and observations" including "objections raised in relation to the possible adverse consequences of the project on the bloodstock industry in Co Kildare".
The proposed facility would be located on a 14-hectare site at Behan's Quarry south of Rathcoole, on the Kildare/Dublin border.
Among the bloodstock interests granted observer status at the hearing - which allows them to attend and raise issues of concern - are some of Ireland's best-known bloodstock industry names.
These include Goffs plc, Kill International Equestrian Centre, The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, Naas racecourse and Cavan Developments Bloodstock.
The proposal was outlined at the planning hearing yesterday by senior counsel James Connolly, for the developer Energy Answers International. He said it was anticipated, in relation to the bloodstock industry, that reference would be made to a previous refusal of planning permission by An Bord Pleanála for a project in Co Tipperary.
But he said the Rosegreen project, a proposed meat and bone meal incinerator plant that drew concerted opposition from bloodstock interests, was very different. Rosegreen, he said, featured an intake high in organic material from abattoir waste; utilised anaerobic digestion; was based on a regional road; was in the vicinity of a high number of stud and racing stables; and was "unprecedented in size in Europe". None of these factors applied to the Rathcoole project, he said.
Outlining a list of expert Irish and international witnesses who would be brought forward over the course of the next three hearing days, Mr Connolly said the company would show there "is no scientific basis for concern".
He said it was misleading to refer to the project as an "incinerator". In fact it was "much more than a waste-to-energy process and far more advanced than simple incineration".
However, the comments did little to reassure a number of protesters who had been picketing the inquiry from early yesterday morning. Outside the hearing Deborah McDermott of Raid (Rathcoole Against Incinerator Dioxins) said that, as a mother of three and a chemist, she was completely opposed to the project. "Dioxins are carcinogenic", she said.
Also among the protesters was Fine Gael Senator Frances Fitzgerald who said the proposal "would make incineration the cornerstone of our waste management policy". Ms Fitzgerald said she had written to the Minister for the Environment asking him to reiterate the new Government policy, and ensure that Bord Pleanála took note of it.
Local councillor Therese Ridge said she was concerned about the effects of the plant on the local Holy Family school. Parents and teachers were united in their opposition to the proposal, she said.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Ireland faces EU fine over waste water plants
LESS than half the essential works required on five waste water sites have been completed in the two years since the European Court brought legal action against the state, environment officials have confirmed. The government is due before the European Court in less than two weeks to answer charges that the treatment plants are below acceptable quality levels.
The European Commission brought the action in July 2006, claiming that Ireland failed to "ensure that, before discharge, waste water entering collecting systems was made subject to secondary treatment or an equivalent treatment at the latest by 31 December, 2000."
It further claims that Ireland has failed to ensure such discharges satisfied European quality requirements.
The action has been taken in specific reference to five treatment plants in Bray, Co Wicklow, Howth, Co Dublin, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, Sligo and Tramore, Co Waterford.
However, despite being eight years overdue, the government has admitted that work on the plants remains unfinished.
While the Sligo and Tramore sites have since been completed, construction work continues in Howth, a contract has only been awarded for the Bray/Shanganagh project while the Letterkenny plant works have not yet gone to tender. A spokesman for the Department of the Environment told the Sunday Tribune that funding for the required infrastructure has been allocated in all cases. "Any delays that have occurred in completing individual works have generally been caused by legal or technical difficulties," he said.
"This case relates to the provision of waste water treatment facilities in five specific locations. It would be inappropriate for us to speculate on the outcome of the court proceedings but we have entered a detailed and robust defence."
The European Commission is determined that Ireland be found guilty of failing in its obligations and to pay the costs of the action. The commission noted in a legal document to the court: "Although Ireland has offered explanations as to the delays encountered in these agglomerations and has provided some indications of the state of progress in meeting the directive's requirements, it is the commission's view that these explanations and indications cannot be considered as excusing a failure to meet the deadline.
"Moreover, the commission submits that the information provided by the Irish authorities is insufficient to allow it to conclude that the installation of secondary waste water treatment plants in these agglomerations is imminent. In most cases, it appears that several further stages need to be completed before the treatment plants will be installed."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
The European Commission brought the action in July 2006, claiming that Ireland failed to "ensure that, before discharge, waste water entering collecting systems was made subject to secondary treatment or an equivalent treatment at the latest by 31 December, 2000."
It further claims that Ireland has failed to ensure such discharges satisfied European quality requirements.
The action has been taken in specific reference to five treatment plants in Bray, Co Wicklow, Howth, Co Dublin, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, Sligo and Tramore, Co Waterford.
However, despite being eight years overdue, the government has admitted that work on the plants remains unfinished.
While the Sligo and Tramore sites have since been completed, construction work continues in Howth, a contract has only been awarded for the Bray/Shanganagh project while the Letterkenny plant works have not yet gone to tender. A spokesman for the Department of the Environment told the Sunday Tribune that funding for the required infrastructure has been allocated in all cases. "Any delays that have occurred in completing individual works have generally been caused by legal or technical difficulties," he said.
"This case relates to the provision of waste water treatment facilities in five specific locations. It would be inappropriate for us to speculate on the outcome of the court proceedings but we have entered a detailed and robust defence."
The European Commission is determined that Ireland be found guilty of failing in its obligations and to pay the costs of the action. The commission noted in a legal document to the court: "Although Ireland has offered explanations as to the delays encountered in these agglomerations and has provided some indications of the state of progress in meeting the directive's requirements, it is the commission's view that these explanations and indications cannot be considered as excusing a failure to meet the deadline.
"Moreover, the commission submits that the information provided by the Irish authorities is insufficient to allow it to conclude that the installation of secondary waste water treatment plants in these agglomerations is imminent. In most cases, it appears that several further stages need to be completed before the treatment plants will be installed."
Sunday Tribune
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 27 April 2008
Gormley plans to publish bill on waste levies by summer
Environment minister John Gormley is close to publishing legislation on a new system of waste levies which are aimed at making incineration commercially unviable.
Gormley, who is opposed to the €250 million Poolbeg incinerator in his own Dublin South East constituency, is drawing up a new waste policy to hike landfill and incineration levies, while promoting mechanical and biological treatment of waste.
He expects to publish the new legislation before the Dáil summer recess. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held oral hearings on the proposed granting of a licence for the Poolbeg incinerator last week.
The hearings were adjourned until this Thursday to allow consideration of a new report on air quality submitted by Dublin City Council.
Gormley did not address the EPA oral hearing and a spokesman for the minister said his powers did not extend to directly intervening to stop the incinerator proceeding.
‘‘He can’t ride in on a white horse and stop the incinerator in its tracks, but our policy is that the well-managed landfill of residual waste is superior to burning it in our backyard,” said Ciaran Cuffe, the Green Party TD for Dun Laoghaire who addressed the oral hearing.
The Poolbeg incinerator would be capable of taking 600,000 tonnes of municipal waste, which is more than the amount of waste produced in the Dublin City Council area. Waste experts believe the facility would need to take waste from the rest of the country to prove viable.
However, the Green Party has claimed that this would undermine the national waste policy set out in the Fianna Fáil/Green Party Programme for Government. Cuffe said a report by Dr Brian Broderick, an air-quality expert at Trinity College, which was revealed at the hearing last week, ‘‘raises serious questions about the potential impact on air quality from the proposed incinerator’’.
Broderick, who was retained by An Bord Pleanála, said air pollutants in the area exceeded EU limits in some cases, and that the level of pollution meant there was limited capacity for further pollution, either from emissions or truck traffic.
‘‘This raises serious questions about the validity of the evidence that Dublin City Council is putting forward,” Cuffe said.
Two previous reports from Dublin City Council stated that air-quality standards in the area were within the limits laid down by the EU, and that the incinerator would not exceed these limits.
Cuffe said studies showed that the amount of residual waste for disposal after pretreatment in the country could be reduced to between 400,000 and 600,000 tonnes from 3.2 million tonnes, which would meet the terms of an EU landfill directive.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Gormley, who is opposed to the €250 million Poolbeg incinerator in his own Dublin South East constituency, is drawing up a new waste policy to hike landfill and incineration levies, while promoting mechanical and biological treatment of waste.
He expects to publish the new legislation before the Dáil summer recess. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held oral hearings on the proposed granting of a licence for the Poolbeg incinerator last week.
The hearings were adjourned until this Thursday to allow consideration of a new report on air quality submitted by Dublin City Council.
Gormley did not address the EPA oral hearing and a spokesman for the minister said his powers did not extend to directly intervening to stop the incinerator proceeding.
‘‘He can’t ride in on a white horse and stop the incinerator in its tracks, but our policy is that the well-managed landfill of residual waste is superior to burning it in our backyard,” said Ciaran Cuffe, the Green Party TD for Dun Laoghaire who addressed the oral hearing.
The Poolbeg incinerator would be capable of taking 600,000 tonnes of municipal waste, which is more than the amount of waste produced in the Dublin City Council area. Waste experts believe the facility would need to take waste from the rest of the country to prove viable.
However, the Green Party has claimed that this would undermine the national waste policy set out in the Fianna Fáil/Green Party Programme for Government. Cuffe said a report by Dr Brian Broderick, an air-quality expert at Trinity College, which was revealed at the hearing last week, ‘‘raises serious questions about the potential impact on air quality from the proposed incinerator’’.
Broderick, who was retained by An Bord Pleanála, said air pollutants in the area exceeded EU limits in some cases, and that the level of pollution meant there was limited capacity for further pollution, either from emissions or truck traffic.
‘‘This raises serious questions about the validity of the evidence that Dublin City Council is putting forward,” Cuffe said.
Two previous reports from Dublin City Council stated that air-quality standards in the area were within the limits laid down by the EU, and that the incinerator would not exceed these limits.
Cuffe said studies showed that the amount of residual waste for disposal after pretreatment in the country could be reduced to between 400,000 and 600,000 tonnes from 3.2 million tonnes, which would meet the terms of an EU landfill directive.
Sunday Business Post
www.buckplanning.ie
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Coolmore group accused of vindictive campaign
A business consortium hoping to build a €100 million waste treatment plant in south Tipperary has accused John Magnier's Coolmore group of conducting "a personalised and vindictive campaign" against its previous proposal to build an incinerator.
Martin Byrne, head of Avglade, told a Bord Pleanála hearing in Clonmel yesterday the company had withdrawn plans to build the incinerator and the Coolmore group had agreed to discontinue High Court proceedings.
Avglade had received planning permission for the incinerator from South Tipperary County Council despite objections from Coolmore, owner of the country's leading stud farm and Ballydoyle stables. Avglade had been running a rendering facility near Ballydoyle, but wanted to build the incinerator because of new EU rules on disposal of animal waste products. Mr Byrne said at a meeting in December 2002 that no money was exchanged and it was made clear (by Coolmore) that Avglade could return to the business of rendering.
The company claims it developed a new, more environmentally friendly proposal for a "bio-energy plant", which is now also being opposed by Coolmore.
Avglade is involved in a joint venture with Bioverda and Dawn Meats called Green Organics Energy Ltd to build the plant.
There were sharp exchanges at the hearing between top trainer Aidan O'Brien and Rory Brady, the former attorney general, for Green Organics Energy. Mr O'Brien said "for us [ at Ballydoyle] this is a life or death situation" and if the new plant was built, "we're out of business". He said "the racehorse is the most sensitive creature in the world" and "any facility of this size is not compatible with our operations".
He repeatedly told Mr Brady he didn't understand the issues because "you don't train horses".
Mr Brady claimed that even if there were "no vapours and no smells and no discharges" from the proposed facility, Mr O'Brien would still be opposed to it.
Michael Parsons
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Martin Byrne, head of Avglade, told a Bord Pleanála hearing in Clonmel yesterday the company had withdrawn plans to build the incinerator and the Coolmore group had agreed to discontinue High Court proceedings.
Avglade had received planning permission for the incinerator from South Tipperary County Council despite objections from Coolmore, owner of the country's leading stud farm and Ballydoyle stables. Avglade had been running a rendering facility near Ballydoyle, but wanted to build the incinerator because of new EU rules on disposal of animal waste products. Mr Byrne said at a meeting in December 2002 that no money was exchanged and it was made clear (by Coolmore) that Avglade could return to the business of rendering.
The company claims it developed a new, more environmentally friendly proposal for a "bio-energy plant", which is now also being opposed by Coolmore.
Avglade is involved in a joint venture with Bioverda and Dawn Meats called Green Organics Energy Ltd to build the plant.
There were sharp exchanges at the hearing between top trainer Aidan O'Brien and Rory Brady, the former attorney general, for Green Organics Energy. Mr O'Brien said "for us [ at Ballydoyle] this is a life or death situation" and if the new plant was built, "we're out of business". He said "the racehorse is the most sensitive creature in the world" and "any facility of this size is not compatible with our operations".
He repeatedly told Mr Brady he didn't understand the issues because "you don't train horses".
Mr Brady claimed that even if there were "no vapours and no smells and no discharges" from the proposed facility, Mr O'Brien would still be opposed to it.
Michael Parsons
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Permission to expand Meath incinerator sparks outrage
ANTI-INCINERATION groups have criticised An Bord Pleanála’s decision yesterday to grant permission to Indaver Ireland to increase the size of its Co Meath incinerator by a third.
Following yesterday’s decision, the plant at Carronstown can now cater for 200,000 tonnes of waste per year — instead of 150,000 tonnes. Indaver says the waste-to-energy plant will generate enough energy for 19,000 homes.
Anti-incineration campaigners and opposition parties have warned that Meath is about to become Dublin’s “dumping ground” as in its conditions, An Bord Pleanála said that Indaver can take waste from outside the north-east.
However, Dublin City Council last night issued a statement saying it “will need to find its own solution to its waste problem” and that it has no plan to ship Dublin’s waste to Co Meath.
The No Incineration Alliance said the decision rendered the Programme for Government useless while their Cork-based counterparts, Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE), said the decision “flew in the face of government declarations that incineration is no longer the cornerstone of Irish Waste Management Policy”.
“The Programme for Government states the cornerstone of a waste management strategy will be based on reduction, re-use and recycling, with the introduction of brown bins, pay by weight and the investigation of technologies such as MBT (mechanical biological treatment). The only mention of incineration in the Programme for Government is to note that there will be no introduction of a landfill levy,” said the alliance’s Aine Walsh.
Indaver welcomed the move saying the project was one of the most scrutinised planning proposals in the history of the State.
“Two Bord Pleanála rulings, two High Court rulings, a Supreme Court ruling and an EPA licensing ruling have all found in favour of the project,” a spokesman said. Construction of the incinerator is due to begin next year.
Sinn Féin environment spokesman Martin Ferris accused Environment Minister John Gormley of taking a NIMBY (not in my back yard) approach to incineration.
“It’s clear the minister was talking about the incinerators in Meath and Cork, and not the one in his own constituency, when he spoke last week of the State needing to burn 400,000 tonnes of rubbish as this will now be the combined capacity of the Meath and Cork plants,” he said.
The Labour Party’s East Meath Senator, Dominic Hannigan, said “government waste management policy is in complete disarray. Before the general election the Green Party were vehemently against incineration but now they are accepting incineration will continue to be a part of Ireland’s answer to waste disposal”.
CHASE opposes the construction of a 100,000 tonne toxic waste incinerator and 100,000 tonne municipal waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy. Planning, which applies only to the toxic waste incinerator, is being appealed. Their case against the toxic waste division will be heard at the High Court at the end of the month.
Irish Examiner
Following yesterday’s decision, the plant at Carronstown can now cater for 200,000 tonnes of waste per year — instead of 150,000 tonnes. Indaver says the waste-to-energy plant will generate enough energy for 19,000 homes.
Anti-incineration campaigners and opposition parties have warned that Meath is about to become Dublin’s “dumping ground” as in its conditions, An Bord Pleanála said that Indaver can take waste from outside the north-east.
However, Dublin City Council last night issued a statement saying it “will need to find its own solution to its waste problem” and that it has no plan to ship Dublin’s waste to Co Meath.
The No Incineration Alliance said the decision rendered the Programme for Government useless while their Cork-based counterparts, Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment (CHASE), said the decision “flew in the face of government declarations that incineration is no longer the cornerstone of Irish Waste Management Policy”.
“The Programme for Government states the cornerstone of a waste management strategy will be based on reduction, re-use and recycling, with the introduction of brown bins, pay by weight and the investigation of technologies such as MBT (mechanical biological treatment). The only mention of incineration in the Programme for Government is to note that there will be no introduction of a landfill levy,” said the alliance’s Aine Walsh.
Indaver welcomed the move saying the project was one of the most scrutinised planning proposals in the history of the State.
“Two Bord Pleanála rulings, two High Court rulings, a Supreme Court ruling and an EPA licensing ruling have all found in favour of the project,” a spokesman said. Construction of the incinerator is due to begin next year.
Sinn Féin environment spokesman Martin Ferris accused Environment Minister John Gormley of taking a NIMBY (not in my back yard) approach to incineration.
“It’s clear the minister was talking about the incinerators in Meath and Cork, and not the one in his own constituency, when he spoke last week of the State needing to burn 400,000 tonnes of rubbish as this will now be the combined capacity of the Meath and Cork plants,” he said.
The Labour Party’s East Meath Senator, Dominic Hannigan, said “government waste management policy is in complete disarray. Before the general election the Green Party were vehemently against incineration but now they are accepting incineration will continue to be a part of Ireland’s answer to waste disposal”.
CHASE opposes the construction of a 100,000 tonne toxic waste incinerator and 100,000 tonne municipal waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy. Planning, which applies only to the toxic waste incinerator, is being appealed. Their case against the toxic waste division will be heard at the High Court at the end of the month.
Irish Examiner
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