Backed by a series of increasingly demanding directives relating to waste, the EU is ready to take action against the Government if it does not improve the effectiveness of Irish waste management. If the failures of the past recur, stiff financial penalties and costly court actions are not far around the corner.
Up to recently, the Republic has benefited from an easing in of new waste targets, but those days are over. Concessions were granted to Ireland - for example, on targets for recycling waste packaging - mostly due to the State having next to no recycling of waste and an absence of the required infrastructure.
A new European Commission directive sets strict targets for processing household and commercial waste, largely without the option of landfill. And, if landfilling is used with outstanding waste streams which cannot be processed, the full cost must be passed on those producing the waste.
This is leading to more significant disposal costs, with consumers/householders likely to feel the brunt of the new regime. Fortunately, Ireland is ahead of many other member states in applying higher "real" costs to landfilling.
One of the most demanding requirements will be, however, associated with processing biodegradable waste, again without the option of landfill.
The more rigorous EU controls are manifest in stricter emissions controls from thermal treatment facilities - notably relating to dioxins, perhaps the most noxious of pollutants, which are generated by burning processes. Equally, the demanding new waste-control climate is indicated by another new directive on waste from electronic and electrical equipment (known as WEEE), believed to be the fastest-growing waste stream in the EU. In short, it bans the disposal of fridges, freezers, microwaves and computer equipment in all landfills.
Mr Padraic Delany, director of Materials Asset Management based in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin, says we are fast moving towards the objective of sustainable production and consumption, where every component of WEEE waste is re-used, recycled or disposed of appropriately. His company is involved in processing such waste, which he describes as "high-tech demanufacturing".
The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated the amount of waste fridges and freezers in Ireland at anything up to 155,000 units a year. There is an absence of treatment facilities here which has forced local authorities to store this waste or export it to another EU state for treatment, according to the Department of the Environment.
EU proceedings against Ireland relating to unauthorised waste activity are already before the European Court. This relates to enforcement and control of waste activities by local authorities and the EPA. The Government's defence is based on its move to considerably strengthen the Waste Management Act. If sustainable solutions are not put in place quickly, it is likely to face a series of actions where the concessions of the past - at a time of less stringent environmental standards - will stand for nought.
