Many household items classified as dangerous

Old paint tins, polishes, oils, razor blades, batteries, medicines and pesticides are among the items defined as "hazardous waste".

Other forms, such as chemicals used in manufacturing, are classed as industrial hazardous waste, while inks, dyes, pigments and lacquers are considered commercial hazards. There is also a category of agricultural hazardous waste which would include pharmaceutical or veterinary compounds. Other materials such as hospital wastes are less easy to categorise, but the Waste Management Act 1996 lists 105 substances or classes of substances which are defined as hazardous.

In 1998, the reported hazardous waste tonnage grew to almost 300,000, a 29 per cent increase on 1996 levels.

While the figures for 2000 are not available, there is every reason to suppose the economic boom at least kept pace with the 29 per cent increase. These figures do not include the estimated 100,000 tonnes of rendered cattle which are currently in storage following the BSE-related cull.

At a conservative estimate, the State may have produced as much as 500,000 tonnes of waste in the last year.

A difficulty for the Republic is that smaller producers of hazardous waste, such as households, are not included in the figures. There was a 92 per cent increase in the tonnage exported between 1996 and 1998, but the Environmental Protection Agency has warned that we should not continue to rely on exporting our waste.

The requirement for a national hazardous waste management plan was included in the Waste Management Act 1996. Work on the project began in 1997 and a "proposed plan" was published in September 1999. Public consultation was then held between the agency and interested parties at six locations around the country and written and oral submissions were made. This resulted in the publication yesterday of the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan.