About a third of households in the south-east dispose of rubbish by burning it, according to a survey carried out by the region's local authorities.
While plans to build a municipal incinerator in the region face continued opposition, many people are already causing environmental damage by burning waste themselves, the survey suggests.
It also found a low level of awareness about waste management among the public.
One in five people thought most waste produced in the region was recycled or composted, rather than sent to landfill as is the case - while some mistakenly thought the south-east already had an incinerator.
The IMS survey was carried out last November among 364 respondents in the region's five counties, for consultants acting for the local authorities.
Asked how they currently disposed of waste, 37 per cent of respondents said they burned it either "most of the time" or "sometimes".
Of the various social classes, farmers were most likely to burn waste, with 69 per cent saying they did so on at least some occasions.
The extent of the practice also varied from county to county, with 52 per cent of respondents in Wexford saying they burned rubbish, compared to 38 per cent in Waterford.
The implications of the findings are highlighted in a summary of the results prepared by the consultancy firm that commissioned the survey, Kearney Stevens Marketing Services.
"If one can assume that PVC is present in most household waste streams, it would not be unrealistic to suggest that about one in every three households in the south-east region are producing dioxins when they burn their rubbish."
Three of the region's six local authorities - Kilkenny and Carlow County Councils and Waterford City Council - this week voted to support a 20-year waste management strategy that includes incineration.
The survey, however, found significant opposition to incineration. A total of 39 per cent disagreed with the view that incinerators do not pose serious health risks because of modern technology. Only 30 per cent agreed. The remaining 32 per cent did not know or had no opinion.
Level of awareness of waste management issues fluctuated between various social groups. Only 16 per cent of farmers thought the farming community was a significant producer of waste, whereas in fact agricultural waste accounts for 38 per cent of the total produced in the region.
In terms of gender, women appeared to be more interested in waste management issues than men.Two-thirds of females questioned said they were "very" willing to separate waste, as opposed to only half the men.
The local authorities, Kearney Stevens concluded, are faced with "a momentous task" in educating people in the south-east about waste management and providing the facilities required. Respondents wanted to manage their waste better, "but they need to be shown how".
