Regional Waste Management Plans

 

  • The National Hazardous Waste Management Plan sets out the overarching objectives to be pursued during that period and beyond to improve the management of hazardous waste in Ireland, including:
  • To prevent and reduce the generation of hazardous waste by industry and society generally.
  • To maximise the collection of hazardous waste with a view to reducing the environmental and health impacts of any unregulated waste.
  • To strive for increased self-sufficiency in the management of hazardous waste and to minimise hazardous waste export.
  • To minimise the environmental, health, social and economic impacts of hazardous waste generation and management.

The Plan points to the need to develop an additional 50,000 tonnes of thermal recovery capacity for the treatment of hazardous wastes if the objective of moving towards increased self-sufficiency in the management of hazardous waste in the State is to be achieved.

The Environmental Protection Agency in 2018 published a Progress Report on the implementation of the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan. This Progress Report once again underlines the key objective of increasing Ireland’s level of self-sufficiency regarding hazardous waste management.

The Progress Report also states that a stronger focus is needed in the areas of hazardous waste prevention and the development of waste management infrastructure if Ireland is to become more self-sufficient in the treatment and management of hazardous waste.

Climate Action Plan 2019 

The Climate Action Plan, published by the Irish government in 2019, sets out the scale of the decarbonisation challenge facing Ireland, and lists a range of measures in order to meet Ireland’s international climate obligations. In terms of managing waste, the Plan states that the government will lead the transformation from waste management to circular economy practice through delivery of a new national policies over the next few years. The Plan also reiterates in clear terms that Irish and regional waste policy is based on the waste hierarchy: waste prevention; preparing for reuse; recycling; and energy recovery; with disposal, namely landfill, being the least desirable option. 

Waste and Circular Economy Actions 

  • Action 135 Lead the transformation from waste management to circular economy practice through delivery of a new national policy
  • Action 136 Revise waste legislation to incorporate new circular economy requirements, including legally binding waste/recycling targets
  • Action 137 Develop a new National Waste Prevention Programme, and Regional Waste Management Plans that will guide our transition to a circular economy by EPA and Local Authorities
  • Action 138 Support the development of eco-design and circular economy opportunities for Irish enterprises to reduce waste over the full lifecycle of products
  • Action 139 Develop and implement a suite of measures to reduce the impact of single-use plastics
  • Action 140 Maintain Government leadership in taking responsibility for own resource consumption, particularly single use plastics, energy, waste and water
  • Action 141 Identify opportunities to strengthen the regulatory and enforcement frameworks and structures for the waste collection and management system, to maximise the collection of clean, segregated materials for reuse and/or recycling from all households and businesses, and to incentivise consumers to reduce, reuse and recycle
  • Action 142 Regulate and incentivise producers of waste, particularly packaging, to ensure the prevention of waste and the use of recycled materials in packaging products.
  • Action 143 We will scope a number of possible environmental levies, including a possible levy on single use plastics, as part of the review of the Environment Fund. Further detailed research would be required prior to the introduction of any new levy.
  • Action 144 We will identify and commence delivery of measures to address the key regulatory barriers to the development of the bio-economy, including exploring opportunities to establish “End of Waste” criteria for certain bio-wastes.

National Hazardous Waste Management Plan 

 

The National Hazardous Waste Management Plan sets out the overarching objectives to be pursued during that period and beyond to improve the management of hazardous waste in Ireland, including: 

  • To prevent and reduce the generation of hazardous waste by industry and society generally.
  • To maximise the collection of hazardous waste with a view to reducing the environmental and health impacts of any unregulated waste.
  • To strive for increased self-sufficiency in the management of hazardous waste and to minimise hazardous waste export.
  • To minimise the environmental, health, social and economic impacts of hazardous waste generation and management.

The Plan points to the need to develop an additional 50,000 tonnes of thermal recovery capacity for the treatment of hazardous wastes if the objective of moving towards increased self-sufficiency in the management of hazardous waste in the State is to be achieved. 

 

The Environmental Protection Agency in 2018 published a Progress Report on the implementation of the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan. This Progress Report once again underlines the key objective of increasing Ireland’s level of self-sufficiency regarding hazardous waste management. 

 

The Progress Report also states that a stronger focus is needed in the areas of hazardous waste prevention and the development of waste management infrastructure if Ireland is to become more self-sufficient in the treatment and management of hazardous waste.

A Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy Ireland’s: National Waste Policy 2020-2025

 

This overarching national policy document sets out the measures through which Ireland will make the further progress necessary to become a recycling society, with a clear focus on resource efficiency and the virtual elimination of landfilling of municipal waste.

This Government policy is predicated on the requirements of the EU waste hierarchy whereby the most favoured option is waste prevention, followed by minimisation, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and the least favoured option of disposal to landfill.

This national policy required the preparation of regional waste management plans for each of the three waste regions in the State, in recognition of the nature of the Irish waste market and the movement of waste across existing boundaries to avail of waste management infrastructure (as described on Regional Waste Management Plans page).

This national Plan covers the period to 2020 and a review of the same will take into account the requirements of the Circular Economy Package and will analyse whether there is sufficient domestic capacity to properly manage municipal waste and recycling and other appropriate infrastructure needed in the State.

A new national waste policy entitled ‘A Waste Plan for a Circular Economy’ will be formulated and adopted in 2020.

National Strategy on Biodegradable Waste 

This National Strategy document sets out the proposed actions necessary to implement the biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) landfill diversion targets as laid down in the Landfill Directive and is designed to secure the diversion of BMW from landfill. The strategy identifies waste-to-energy as the preferred method for treating residual waste in accordance with the waste management hierarchy. 

The Landfill Directive imposes restrictions on the consignment of BMW to landfill and includes a gradual reduction in the quantity of biodegradable municipal waste which may be deposited in landfill sites. 

The updated Landfill Directive (as part of the EU’s Circular Economy Package adopted in 2018) provides that municipal waste diverted to landfill must be reduced to 10% or less of the total amount of municipal waste generated by 2035.