Environment, Climate and Communications | Domestic waste reference options

To ask the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the extent to which domestic waste is currently referred for incineration or landfill sites; the intended progression in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

European, national and regional waste management policy is predicated on the waste hierarchy as set out in Article 4 of the 2008 Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), whereby the prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling and other recovery of waste are preferred options to the disposal or landfilling of waste. 

The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy launched in September 2020 shifts the focus away from waste management to a fuller reconsideration of how we use resources and materials.  The measures in the Plan are intended to minimise the amount of waste generated, eliminating waste before it can be created and diverting as much as possible to beneficial reuse or recovery and will help us deliver on our targets.

Significantly more residual waste is now used as a fuel (energy recovery) than disposed to landfill. Further information is available at http://www.epa.ie/nationalwastestatistics/municipal/