THE Minister for the Environment made an order yesterday bringing the major provisions of the Waste Management Act into operation. But the Green Party warned it would do little to solve the country's waste problems.
The order coincided with a demonstration at the Balleally tip head on the Rogerstown estuary in Lusk, Co Dublin. It was staged to protest at the prospect of Balleally being turned into a "super dump" following the closure of Dunsink dump in Finglas on Sunday, after 21 years of operation.
Mr Howl in said waste management was high on the Government agenda and that public preference favoured higher environmental standards and better performance for prevention, recycling and disposal of waste. "The legislative tools for this purpose are now at our disposal," he added.
But the Green Party's environment spokesman, Mr Gerry Boland, told Balleally protesters that the "waste mountain is growing with each passing day". Protesters blocked two access roads to the dump for several hours yesterday morning.
The Balleally protest, jointly organised by the Green Party and a local action group, CARE (Community Action Rogerstown Estuary), called for the dump's closure. Ireland is not using its waste properly, and not recycling it, which could generate a large number of jobs, they said.
A spokesman for Fingal County Council conceded yesterday that much of what was dumped in Dunsink would now go into the Balleally dump.
"We understand the concerns of the people protesting. We know that nobody wants to live near a dump, but we have to put the rubbish somewhere. Dumps are essential as long as people produce waste that has to be disposed of. We want to reassure people that the dump at Balleally is operated to a very high standard", said the spokesman.
To coincide with the protest the Green Party published its own "Waste Management Act" regulations. These include a legal requirement for householders to separate their compost waste from other household materials.
Mr Howlin's order, made yesterday, gave effect to provisions in the Waste Management Act. Under its terms the Environmental Protection Agency is mandated to prepare a national plan on hazardous waste.