No waste firm has sought additional storage - EPA

No waste firm has sought permission for additional storage for recyclable waste, despite claims from the waste industry that the international recycling market has collapsed, the Protection Agency (EPA) has said.

Irish waste firms last November appealed for permission to store waste they could no longer export due to a fall in the price recyclable materials, such as are typically deposited in household "green" bins, were fetching on international markets.

Following these appeals Minister for Environment John Gormley told companies they could apply to the EPA for licences to enable them to store additional waste.

EPA Dr Mary Kelly has told an Oireachtas environment committee that no applications had been received from any waste licensee to extend their facilities.

The EPA had also committed to prioritise any application from a waste firm to use empty landfill sites, where the recyclables could be stored separate to general waste, to store additional waste. However it received no applications for this facility either, Dr Kelly said.

The lack of applications would appear to indicate that there was some recovery in the market, Dr Kelly said. However she said a long-term solution to the costs of recycling was needed.

"The crisis is not resolved and has shown up some of the underlying difficulties associated with the long term commitment to achieving recycling targets and doing this at reasonable cost."

Ireland's package recycling rates are currently exceeding EU targets. Under the packaging directive 60 per cent of packaging waste was to be recycled by 2008. This rate of recycling was already met, and exceeded in 2007 when 63.6 per cent of packaging waste was recycled resulting in the diversion of more than 55,000 tonnes of packaging from landfill.