THE GREEN Party has called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw its proposed decision to grant a waste licence for an incinerator at Poolbeg in Dublin.
Deputy Ciarán Cuffe told an EPA hearing, at which Dublin City Council is seeking a waste licence to run the facility, that granting the licence would significantly undermine the waste hierarchy as set out by the European Union.
“Incineration is the least favoured option in the waste hierarchy set out by the EU,” he said.
“Not only is there not enough waste from Dublin to feed it, but there wouldn’t be enough waste from the entire country for this facility, which is nothing more than a white elephant.”
The plant, which will be Dublin’s first municipal waste incinerator and one of the largest in Europe, would have the capacity to burn 600,000 tonnes of waste annually. It will be located at Poolbeg, which neighbours Ringsend. The council hopes to have the plant, which will cost some €266 million, in operation by 2012.
Green Party Cllr Bronwen Maher called on the EPA to carry out a detailed assessment of the air quality of the area likely to be affected by the proposed plant.
