A controversial waste management plan for the South East, which includes an incinerator, has been backed by three of the six local authorities in the region.
The plan, which was drawn up last year by consultants, envisages recycling or re-using up to 60 per cent of the region's waste, one-third of which will be incinerated.
Councils in the region are voting on the plan at meetings this month, following a lengthy public consultation process which concluded on April 17th.
Carlow and Kilkenny county councils as well as Waterford City Council have voted in favour of adopting the plan. Waterford County Council has voted against it while Wexford County Council has deferred its decision until next month.
South Tipperary County Council has yet to vote on the matter.
The plan has to be adopted on an identical basis by all six authorities. But even if councillors reject the plan it may still be implemented by the county and city managers, who have new powers given to them under legislation passed last year.
A spokesman for the Department of Environment told ireland.comthat even though the plan might be rejected by one or two councils he believed it would eventually be adopted by the relevant city managers.
The location of the proposed incinerator was not specified in the plan which also includes a three-bin collection service for all urban households by 2008.
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