A dramatic change in attitudes towards waste management is required to overcome Ireland's "insupportable" reliance on landfill, according to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey.
Speaking at the announcement of a national environmental management conference to take place next month, he said it was necessary to move away from "one-dimensional and unsophisticated waste practices towards a modern, environmentally sustainable system of waste management. This move is long overdue".
The conference, organised by the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, will take place in the Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, on October 6th and 7th.
Under the theme "Waste Management Strategies and Solutions", it will bring together local authorities, environmental campaigners and industry representatives to discuss waste management issues, identify solutions and learn from best practice.
According to Mr Dempsey, almost 92 per cent of the waste produced in the State went into landfill.
Alternative technologies and solutions like recycling or cleaner production did not receive the support that was needed to improve the situation.
The director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Ms Anne Butler, put this down to a lack of information. Practical, economical and environmentally friendly solutions were available, she said, citing the example of a chemicals firm which turned an annual loss of £300,000 a year disposing of waste into a £35,000 profit by recycling instead.
According to the EPA's National Waste Database, approximately 42 million tons of waste were produced in Ireland in 1995.
Of 7.65 million tons of industrial waste approximately 17 per cent was recovered. Of one million tons of household waste only 4.3 per cent was recovered.
An audit of waste for last year is continuing, and figures are to be published this December. However, Ms Butler said initial indications were that quantities of waste were increasing.