By Joe HigginsTD
Government’s Pathetic Failure on Waste Reduction and Recycling
Paper waste:
Did you know that in 2001, out of 302,062 tons of paper disposed of from households, an incredible 279,833 tons (92.6%) went to landfill and only 22,229 tons (7.4%) went for recycling?
(Source; National Waste Database Report 2001 – Environmental Protection Agency.)
Did you know that, Repak notwithstanding, of 502,352 tons of paper disposed of by commercial outlets, 358,276 tons (71.3%) went to landfill with 144,076 tons(28.7) going for recycling?
(Same source)
This means that if paper recycling was made mandatory with facilities provided in all areas, at a stroke the amount of waste going to landfill from households and commercial outlets would be reduced by almost one third (32.5%).
Household Waste is waste produced within the curtailed of a building or self-contained part of a building used for the purposes of living accommodation.
Commercial Waste is waste from premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of trade or business or for the purposes of sport, recreation, education or entertainment but does not include household, agricultural or industrial waste.
What the Environmental Protection Agency 2001 Survey shows is that we have a Government which gives lipservice to an environmentally sound waste management policy but is not serious about putting the infrastructure in place to make comprehensive recycling a reality.
Glass:
Did you know that out of 77,827 tons of glass disposed of by households in 2001, 55,214 tons (70.9%) went to landfill while 22,614(29.1) went for recycling?
(Same source)
Did you know that out of 73,403 tons of glass disposed of in 2001 by the commercial sector, 53,078(72.3%) went to landfill with 20,325 tons (27.7%) went for recycling?
(Same source)
Irish Glass Bottle, the only glass recycling facility in the Republic was closed in June 2002. Now all glass for recycling has to go to Northern Ireland or abroad.
The Minister for the Environment and the Government ignored calls for a major initiative to keep and develop a national glass recycling facility by bringing together the IGB workers, the Local Authorities and Rehab Industries to work out a plan based on the basis of a publicly owned IGB.
Some other facts;
In 2001, of the total amount of plastic disposed of by households, 145,563 tons went from households to landfill ……. 99.4% of the total.
404,064 tons of organic waste went from households to landfill with only 19,846 (4.7%) recovered for composting.
2001
Total Waste Produced Tons
Total of Non Agricultural Waste 17,384,194
(Industrial Construction, Commercial & Household)
Agricultural Waste 56,687,440
Total 74,071,634
Note; Most agricultural waste does not go into landfill but is recycled on the land as fertiliser etc.
Municipal Waste(Household , Commercial & Street cleaning) (Before recycling)
Household Waste 1,468,834
Commercial waste 1,156,732
Street cleaning 78,469
Total Municipal Waste 2,704,035
Waste Going to Landfill in 2001
Waste Accepted at Landfills: Tons
Household 1,254,859
Commercial 737,193
Construction 1,094,496
Industrial 4,480,754
Other 710,296
Total 8,277,598
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