Waste Management (Amendment) Bill 2002

20th November 2002

A amendment to the Waste Management Act 2002 to promote a "zero waste" policy. 

This Bill addresses the devastating blow dealt to democracy by the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Noel Dempsey. It also addresses the Minister's zealous admiration for incineration, which appears to be shared by the entire Fianna Fáil parliamentary party. British Nuclear Fuels changed the name of Windscale to Sellafield. Is the Minister now going to call incineration thermal treatment? Should his political career falter there will be an opening for him in BNFL's public relations department, such is his zeal for name changing.

Fianna Fáil want to see incinerators, not just in the open countryside but also in some of the most densely populated areas of the country. Ringsend has been dumped on for generations. It has suffered the landfill site in Poolbeg, cement plants and the annual conflagration at the car recycling plant. It is not good enough that one of the most disadvantaged communities in the country is to be dumped on again with the proposal for an incinerator on the Poolbeg peninsula.

Incineration is expensive, produces climate change emissions, takes the pressure away from recycling and leaves a residue. Do we want to pay Treasury Holdings or its equivalent hundreds of euro per year per household to burn our rubbish? Is that Fianna Fáil's sad vision of the future? Incineration does little for job creation. One fellow drives the lorry and another pushes the button. This does not create jobs in a recycling economy. Incineration is incompatible with a serious attempt to create jobs within the recycling economy.

Waste management is not rocket science, although some incinerator sales representatives would like to convince us that this is the case. We do not need this sort of technology. We need to choose the options which already exist and are working abroad.

Ten years ago the Green Party members of Dublin Corporation directed the city manager to commission a waste management plan founded on the principles of city-wide waste reduction, reuse and recycling. We wanted this plan to be based on EU directives, to outline options for employment creation in waste management, to provide for source segregation of recoverables and to advance all of these issues. We were laughed at by the Minister's party colleagues but we are not laughed at now. We need more than a discussion in the Minister's Department. We need action in these areas. Targets must be set. We do not want to continue with the predict and provide strategy which seems to be good enough for the Minister and his consultants.

Incineration is not good for our agriculture, food or tourism industries. We can look abroad at many options. Australia places financial deposits on drinks containers to encourage recycling. That would prevent the Government from allowing the Irish Glass Bottle Company to fade away with the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Our Bill calls for a total ban on incineration as a waste management technology and a major emphasis on recycling. We want the powers of county managers to introduce regional waste management plans rescinded. We were appalled by the divide and conquer approach shown by the former Minister for the Environment and Local Government and by the blow it struck at local democracy.

Our proposals can work. The plastic bag levy is successful and similar incentives could help us to reduce our waste mountain. We also need incentives from the Department for markets for recyclables. Where are the incentives? What Departments are using recycled materials? The Department of the Environment and Local Government is making strides in that regard but what are other Departments doing?

We need to set a target for a waste free Ireland, perhaps by 2012, and we want to see clear and significant progress towards this goal. We believe a zero waste strategy would lead to innovation and would move beyond the incremental approach being furthered by the Minister's Department at present. Instead of embracing incineration we must opt for waste reduction, reuse and recycling, with well managed landfill for any waste remaining. This will ensure the clean, green image of Ireland is maintained and enhanced for future generations. Ireland's image abroad and our agriculture, food and tourism industries depend on it.

I commend the Bill to the House.