Councils act to regulate waste operations

Two of the three local authorities named yesterday as operating unauthorised waste-management facilities by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have moved to regulate operations.

The third local authority, South Dublin County Council, said it expected to close its Grange composting facility by the end of the year.

A council spokeswoman said the facility provided an opportunity for residents to recycle garden waste and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

She said the council was working with all Dublin local authorities and a number of private waste contractors and compost manufacturers "to identify an alternative solution for the recycling of green waste in the Greater Dublin Area".

Waterford City Council said the complaint referred to its €3.5 million composting facility at Six Cross Roads, Butlerstown, which processed the food and garden waste from the city's 16,000 brown household bins.

It said it was required to register the plant with the EPA, and registration papers had now been submitted.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, which was the third local authority named, said the complaint related to one enclosed skip in its own depot, used only by its own staff.

Street sweepers empty the contents of their road-sweeping machines and the contents of local litter bins into the skip. It is compacted and transported, when full, to a licensed waste facility at Fassaroe.

"Even though the skip is used exclusively by road-sweeping staff, the EPA have informed us that we need authorisation for this activity. We are now in discussion with the EPA about the best way to acquire this authorisation" said a spokesman.

The EPA report has been described as "disturbing" by the Green Party. Spokesman Ciarán Cuffe said it showed there was a tonne of unauthorised landfilling for every home in the country.

Concern has also been expressed by independent Wicklow councillor Tommy Cullen, who said he knew of many illegal dumps which had been left off the EPA list of 25 unauthorised sites. Figures for the total number of sites had counted eight separate dumps on Roadstone lands as one site.

"I think more than 50 per cent of all sites are actually in Wicklow, and this should embarrass the Minister for Environment, Dick Roche, in his own constituency."