Sir, - Mr Noel Dempsey's present commitment to waste incineration reflects an institutional bias. This bias is strengthened by his lack of experience with reduction and recycling programmes. The expansion of incineration in Ireland is not a result of sound waste management or energy policies.
Producing energy by incinerating waste squanders more resources than it saves. Incineration plants cannot provide a financial return on the huge investment they require without being paid to accept their fuel (waste).
As energy producers, they are comparatively inefficient. Even worse, burning waste represents a loss of the energy used to produce materials in the first place. If the goal of the Irish Government's energy policy is to optimise energy use, then other measures, such as recycling and conservation, represent a better investment of resources with less environmental impact. - Yours, etc.,
Tom Prendeville, Earthwatch, Friends of the Earth, Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2.