Waste disposal in the State is reaching crisis point and £2 billion is needed over 10 to 15 years to set up adequate facilities.
At the publication of the first Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report yesterday on waste licensing from 1997 to 1999, Mr Gerry Carty, EPA programme manager, said there was a need for more facilities quickly to avoid a crisis.
"The main message is that there needs to be a move away from landfill sites and alternatives must be put in place," Mr Carty said. Other methods of waste management included recycling, composting operations, transfer stations involving baling and separation, organic sites and thermal treatment.
He said the £2 billion needed in capital investment was based on estimates for regional waste plans. This would be over a period of 10 to 15 years to get the infrastructure in place. Although some local authorities had introduced some new facilities, things were not moving fast enough. Under EU directives, states were obliged to move away from landfills.
The report said 136 applications for waste licences had been received and half related to the operation of landfills. At the end of 1999, 30 licences had been granted and nine draft licences involving the processing of 1.6 million tonnes of waste.
At the end of 2000, 148 applications had been made and 67 licences had been granted. He said significant progress had been made from when they started in 1997 in relation to management, operation and monitoring of waste facilities.
Ms Anne Butler, an EPA director, said, however, they were coming from quite a low base as waste management had not been a priority. "There is still a lot of work to be done in the area and there is a need for improved infrastructure."
She said people were talking about recycling but first a structured system was needed so waste could be separated and collected for recovery and safe disposal. A number of issues needed to be implemented. The most important was that there should be a quality manager on site when waste was being accepted.
She said monitoring needed to be addressed. It was essential that all aspects were covered, i.e. monitoring and management of landfill gas and groundwater quality. There was also a need for good communication between all parties involved, particularly the public, to build-up trust and confidence.
Ms Butler said the EPA had the power to enforce action where facilities were not up to standard. She said 100 hospital incinerators had not come up to standard and were all now closed. "There is soon going to be a crisis in waste disposal facilities. In Dublin, we are running out of facilities. We are now getting applications for other methods apart from landfill. It is the beginning of an era where it is changing."
Mr Carty said half the applications were for landfill sites and most of those were from local authorities. Referring to incineration, he said that was one of the techniques available but there had been no applications for one, although one was expected for municipal waste in Co Meath.
He said waste was growing by 3 per cent or 4 per cent per annum and was predicted to grow even more. Prevention must be emphasised because if the trend continued over 15 years the amount of waste would double.