Galway Corporation's unanimous decision this week to exclude thermal treatment from the menu of options for regional waste management has been greeted with jubilation by those who campaigned against incineration. It has been described as "extremely brave" by Galway for a Safe Environment - the coalition of environmental and residents groups leading this campaign. Whatever else it was, this decision by the corporation's elected members was not a sign of bravery but rather a refusal to face reality by clientelist politicians who had felt the heat of public protest.
Two weeks ago, Dublin City Council declined to introduce a scheme of environmental charges for waste disposal - even though the application of volume-related charges is not only fully in line with the Polluter Pays principle but is also absolutely essential to fund the implementation of a long-delayed regional waste management plan for the capital. Yet not even the Green Party would support such charges. All the Dublin councillors were prepared to do was to agree to a once-off fee for the delivery to households of new "wheelie-bins".
With Ireland's growing prosperity, the volume of waste generated by the domestic sector is rising inexorably year by year. Those involved in the Galway anti-incinerator campaign see recycling as the solution and insist that the rejection of thermal treatment will not result in a further reliance on landfill. They have called on Galway Corporation to implement immediately a programme of home and central composting, to be followed as soon as possible with a city-wide source separation and kerbside collection of recyclables.
At present in Galway, and throughout the State, 95 per cent of the million or more tonnes of municipal waste is consigned to landfill. It seems difficult to imagine how the local authorities, or the public at large, can move with alacrity in the direction of composting, source separation and recycling. Even the most environmentally-conscious countries in Europe, notably Austria and Denmark, have not been able to achieve recycling rates above 40 per cent. The chances of Ireland doing any better must be regarded as remote.
The NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) syndrome is evident in the Galway campaign; its membership included representatives of ad-hoc anti-dump groups from different parts of the county - all of them set up to oppose new landfill options. And yet there will always be residual waste requiring disposal somewhere. Legitimate questions have been raised about thermal treatment, particularly the emission of dioxins. But it still makes more sense, even environmentally, than having to find new holes in the ground in which to deposit the detritus of our prosperous times.