This article is from page 23 of the 2008-11-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
THE region’s waste management plan is now redundant following the confirmation that two private com- panies are pursuing thermal treat- ment technologies that were not in place when the plan was originally adopted.
That’s the view of Cllr Brian Meaney (Green) who made his com- ments after Regional Waste Co-ordi- nator, Phillipa King confirmed that two private firms are pursuing forms of thermal technologies in the Lim- erick area.
She confirmed that the technolo- gies being pursued were not around when the plan for Clare, Kerry and Limerick was adopted in 2006.
One plan is only at pre-planning stage, while the Regional Waste Of- fice has raised questions over a Ssec- ond proposal to meet the criteria laid down for thermal treatment.
Cllr Meaney said the waste plan needs to be reviewed as soon as the review ordered by Environment Min- ister John Gormley into the national waste strategy takes place .
“The current plan is redundant by its irrelevance. One indicator of ir-
relevance is the thermal treatment proposals by the private sector are taking place outside of the thermal treatment aspect of the plan and the direction from the Minister that ther- mal treatment is to be removed from waste plans.”
The presentation by Ms King also confirmed that there are less house- holds engaged in refuse collection in Clare last year than there were in paul etes
The number of Clare households signed up to the service is 57% or 21,290 compared to 22,285 or 58% of the 38,210 total in 2006.
However, the county boasts the highest recycling rate in the region at 35% compared to Limerick city (23%), Limerick county (29%) and Kerry (23%) and the regional aver- age of 28%.
Ms King’s presentation also con- firmed that at current filling rates, the landfills in the region have a lifespan of seven more years.
The capacity in the region is 1.324 million tonnes and that the current capacity is 765,000 tonnes, while the plan review states that there are 50 closed landfills in the region.
However, Ms King anticipated that
the lifespan of the landfills will be longer when organic waste is divert- ed from landfill.
Clare County Council along with other local aurthorities are aiming that 20% of households have segre- gated organic collection by Septem- ber of next year and that by December 2010, 40% of housholds must have a segregated organic collection.
The amount of household waste is currently down 3%, uncollected household waste is down 50%, Con- struction and Demolition Waste down 6% and Commercial waste up Ce