Lagan Cement has secured planning permission from An Bord Pleanála to incinerate up to 50,000 tonnes of meat and bone meal annually at its cement plant near Kinnegad, Co Westmeath.
The company's plans to burn these animal byproducts in the cement kiln had already been approved by Meath County Council (the plant is located in Co Meath) last June, despite some local objections.
Rejecting an appeal by Brian Coffey, Ballinabrackey, Kinnegad, the board cited national policy on the development of sustainable energy sources and guidelines on the disposal of meat and bone meal published by the Department of Agriculture in 2003.
The ruling means Lagan Cement would be in a position to process up to a third of the 150,000 tonnes of meat and bone meal produced annually by the rendering industry here. Much of this is currently exported for incineration in Germany.
Last July, the board approved plans by Edenderry Power Ltd in Co Offaly to co-fuel its peat fired power plant with a mixture of biomass (wood material) and meat and bone meal. This would allow the plant to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The cement industry produces one tonne of CO2 for every tonne of cement it produces. Unless it takes steps to cut emissions, the companies involved - Lagan Cement, the Seán Quinn Group and Irish Cement - would have to buy CO2 credits at more than €20 per tonne.
Lagan Cement proposes to substitute up to 45 per cent of the coal currently used to fuel its kiln with meat and bone meal, which would be stored in two previously permitted fuel silos on the site, located in the townlands of Killaskillen and Cappaboggan.
Its planning application specified that this would comply with an integrated pollution control licence from the Environmental Protection Agency and any residues arising from the process would be "incorporated into the cement produced at the plant".
An Bord Pleanála said its decision took into account the "general suitability" of combustion technology at the cement plant for co-incineration of meat and bone meal with coal as well as the available infrastructure associated with the plant.
Subject to compliance with the five conditions it laid down, the board said the proposed development "would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of residential property and farms in the vicinity [ and] would not be prejudicial to public health".
Apart from capping the use of meat and bone meal at 50,000 tonnes a year, the board said no co-incineration could start at the plant "unless and until the necessary Environmental Protection Agency licence review at the existing cement plant has been obtained".
It also specified that all meat and bone meal must be delivered to the site in sealed containers. A record of each delivery, including a tracking reference number, must be maintained at the plant.
David Malone, of EuroLaw Environmental Consultants, noted on behalf of the appellant, Mr Coffey, that Lagan Cement's CO2 emissions were more than 120,000 tonnes in excess of its allowance of 373,655 tonnes a year and were thus in breach of EU law.
He claimed the company's environmental impact statement was "legally flawed" and that its plans to incinerate meat and bone meal would infringe both the EU Waste Management Directive and the North East Regional Waste Management Plan.