Poor waste management will lead to an unwelcome proliferation of landfill sites eating up hundreds of acres in urban areas, according to Mr John Daly, president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors.
Speaking at the SCS annual conference in Kilkenny, he said an inevitable consequence of landfill sites sprouting up around the country is that land values will go down. "In 2002, we generated more than 2.2 million tonnes of municipal waste. This represented an increase of 20 per cent in two years," he said.
"During the same period, Ireland recycled only 12 per cent of municipal waste compared to 45 per cent in Holland and 42 per cent in Germany, he added.
"In Ireland we landfilled the balance, a colossal 88 per cent. Radical change is called for and new important steps are being taken to tackle the ever-increasing waste mountain," he said.
"Already in Dublin 180,000 households have segregated waste collection. And there are now more than 1,300 bring banks, compared with just 400 in 1994, he said.
He called on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Cullen, to ensure regional waste management plans were aggressively implemented."The objective is to recycle/compost 40 to 50 per cent of waste, thermally treat up to 40 per cent and to landfill the balance of 10 to 20 per cent," he said.
"At a north Dublin city landfill site over 50,000 tonnes of concrete were recycled during its first year of operation, since last May.
"Instead of paying a levy for dumping concrete rubble there, it can be taken in at no charge.
"The recycled material is a saleable product and is being used in road construction," he said.