A chara, - I look forward to receiving the Danish waste plan which Ambassador Tygesen has promised to send me (January 23rd). It's a shame that our own Minister for the Environment and his consultants won't engage in this debate in a similar fashion.
I am pleased that Mr Tygesen confirms my figures of 60 per cent incineration and 20 per cent recycling of domestic waste in Denmark. Readers can judge just how "remarkable" these figures are by comparing them with Holland (26 per cent incineration and 43 per cent recycling) and the Flanders area of Belgium (29 per cent incineration and 35 per cent recycling).
What is remarkable about Denmark, however, is the 12times higher levels of dioxin found in cows' milk there (mean of 2.6 pg I-TEQ/g fat) compared with Ireland (mean of 0.21 pg ITEQ/g fat), and the enormous levels of dioxin found in human breast milk in Denmark (mean of 17.1 pg I-TEQ/g fat). (References available if needed).
Danish mothers' breast milk could not legally be sold on the open market as it is significantly above the WHO recommended upper limits. There has been no study whatsoever of dioxin levels in Irish mothers' breast milk (Irish Ministers for Health and Environment, please note).
Given that the European Dioxin Inventory of 1997 states that 49.8 per cent of dioxins in Denmark come from municipal solid waste incineration, I doubt that the people of Ireland will be inspired by these "remarkable advances". - Is mise,
Dr Conchur O Bradaigh, Galway for a Safe Environment, Castlegar, Galway.