Paul Bradford
Question:122 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his views on whether there should be a single preferred system of waste disposal management practised throughout the country. [9380/01]
Written Answers. - Waste Management.
The 1998 policy statement, Changing our Ways, outlined the need for a major reduction in reliance on landfill in favour of an integrated waste management approach utilising a range of waste treatment options to deliver effective and efficient waste services and ambitious recycling and recovery targets.
It outlined some of the main issues associated with the use of alternative collection practices and waste treatment technologies and pointed out that no one solution can address all waste management requirements. Accordingly, local authorities were advised to identify and fully assess the various issues involved with a view to identifying the nature, scale and mix of facilities which, in their circumstances, appeared to offer the best balance between maximised output of materials or energy and minimised environmental emissions at a reasonable cost.
Regarding this advice and the waste recovery targets set out in Changing our Ways, current and proposed regional waste management plans incorporate proposals for: household segregation and separate collection of organic and dry recycl able wastes in urban areas; an extended network of "bring" facilities in rural areas, with specified target densities; an increased network of civic amenity sites and waste transfer stations; a range of centralised composting and other biological treatment facilities; support for home composting, especially in rural areas; thermal treatment facilities; and landfill facilities for disposal of residual wastes.
The number, nature and scale of waste treatment facilities provided for in local and regional plans vary, depending on the specific circumstances in each of the functional areas or regions concerned.