Reports are reaching UKWIN that suggest the Irish government will reject incineration in favour of more sustainable approaches to waste management. Plans could include a tax on incineration.

Claire O’Sullivan, writing in the Irish Examiner, calls attention to Circular No. WPRR 04/09 (reproduced below).

In an article entitled Gormley circular places emphasis away from incineration we read:

ANTI-INCINERATOR lobby groups have welcomed a circular sent by Environment Minister John Gormley, to all local authorities and An Bord Pleanála outlining how department waste strategy is to be directed away from incineration towards sustainable waste management.

Planning permission has been granted for two incinerators in Co Meath and at Poolbeg in Dublin, and an An Bord Pleanála hearing is under way in Cork into a proposed €150 million hazardous and municipal waste incinerator in Cork Harbour. Incineration is a key focus of the National Development Plan, but the programme for government by the Green Party and Fianna Fáil calls for this role to be reduced in favour of the mechanical and biological treatment of waste.

The circular, sent at the end of last week, instructs the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and city and county councils to limit “incineration capacity to ensure that waste is not drawn to incineration which could have been dealt with by recycling or other methods higher up the waste hierarchy”. Furthermore, they are to “refrain from exercising their powers in such a way as to direct waste to landfill or incineration”.

Cork Harbour for a Safe Environment (CHASE), which has fought Indaver’s incinerator plans for over seven years, welcomed the minister’s “clarification”:

This policy movement away from incineration, towards waste minimisation and resource focused solutions is very significant. This clear move away from incineration leaves Indaver’s proposed incinerator with no role to play in waste management.

Green Party councillor at Passage West on Cork Harbour, Dominic Donnelly, said there is a loud message coming from Government that incineration is no longer part of government policy.

29th May 2009
Circular No. WPRR 04/09
Update on progress in respect of implementing the waste management provisions of the Programme for Government

I am directed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to update you on progress in respect of implementing the waste management provisions of the Programme for Government, and in particular the commitment to conduct an international review of waste management policy.

The Programme for Government makes major commitments in relation to national waste policy. In particular, there is an emphasis on moving away from the high reliance on incineration foreseen in the National Development Plan and reflected in the regional waste management plans for which the local authorities have statutory responsibility, generally operating in regional groupings. In this regard it is intended that there be an increased commitment to the use of alternative technologies, including those known as mechanical and biological treatment.

The Department’s Statement of Strategy 2008-2010, which is published on the Department’s web site and which was noted by Government in July 2008, states:

The new Programme for Government indicates a further development of waste and resource policy in the direction of sustainability, in particular, to move away from mass burn incineration towards alternative technologies and to minimise waste going to landfill, subject to the outcome of the review of the waste management strategy. This major international review being undertaken by the Department will address how best to implement waste prevention and minimisation, and the emergence of new technologies in waste management.

Progress on the review of waste management strategy
Consultants have been retained to conduct the study of waste policy options which will underpin the conclusion of the overall review later this year. This work is well advanced and a series of interim reports has been considered by the Review Steering Group. It is considered that the study itself should be concluded on time, July 2009, with policy proposals being brought to Government shortly thereafter.

Interim policy measures
While this work is on target, it is acknowledged that progress towards meeting Ireland’s targets under the Landfill Directive and the requirements of the recently adopted Waste Framework Directive cannot wait. Therefore the Minister is pressing ahead with key initiatives which are compatible with the overall objectives of the review in order to meet the targets. These include:

• increase in the landfill levy and the introduction of a levy on incineration;
• roll-out of brown bin collections;
• intensifying efforts to promote at source/home composting;
• supporting small-scale local composting initiatives;
• encouraging access to waste streams for composting/anaerobic digestion, recycling and other processes high on the waste hierarchy; and,
• source segregated collection of commercial biowaste.

The Minister has also initiated a Strategic Environmental Assessment on proposed policy directions to the EPA and local authorities which would (in relation to their functions under the Waste Management Acts and any instruments made thereunder), inter alia, require the recipients to:

• limit incineration capacity to ensure that waste is not drawn to incineration which could have been dealt with by recycling or other methods higher up the waste hierarchy;
• refrain from exercising their powers in such a way as to direct waste to landfill or incineration.

The proposed policy direction is subject to consultation with both the public and all stakeholders, including local authorities.

The above are interim actions intended to help meet the Landfill Directive targets while implementing the commitments in the Programme for Government. The Minister considers that they are in line with the policies emerging from the overall review.

Queries in relation to this Circular may be addressed to the undersigned.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Layde
Principal Officer
Waste Policy: Review and Regulation