Minister pledges shift away from incineration in Ireland

The facility, being planned for a site at Pigeon House Road on the Poolbeg Peninsula in Ringsend, received the permit from the Environmental Protection Agency to handle up to 600,000 tonnes of Dublin's municipal waste a year, after receiving planning permission in November 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story).

While Mr Gormley said he was legally forbidden to intervene in the planning and licensing processes, and that many of the decisions over the plant were taken before he came to office, he said he had made an oral submission in opposition to the plant before he became a minister.

And, he pledged that he would focus on a “fundamental review” of waste management policy in Ireland to “ensure a shift away from incineration” – including possible caps on the amount of waste which could be burnt.

He said: “There are no effective provisions within current waste management law or policy which would enable me, as Minister, to intervene directly in a PPP project which began more than a decade ago, and where tenders were approved two years before I took office.

“I have instead focussed on a fundamental review of waste management policy, in line with commitments in the Programme for Government, to ensure a shift away from incineration.”

Interim Measures

While the review is underway – which is expected to conclude in 2009 – Mr Gormley said that he was also considering interim measures to discourage waste incineration further.

He said: “I am initiating a strategic environmental assessment on a number of options, including a policy to restrict local authorities from directing waste to incinerators or landfill, where that waste could be recycled or pre-treated.

“I am also examining whether Ireland should place specific caps on the amount of waste that can be incinerated. In additions I have also recently received a report advising on the implementation of a new waste levy scheme, the aim of which would be to underpin efforts in recycling and reduction. I hope to bring proposals on this to Government in the near future.”

Issuing a note of caution to councils who may be interested in building new facilities, he added: “I believe it is prudent that all local authorities involved in waste infrastructure development should take these developments into account before proceeding with any waste infrastructure projects.”

Fine Gael

Objections to the Poolbeg incinerator licence were also today voiced by Ireland's largest opposition party, Fine Gael.

Fine Gael Dublin South-East Deputy Lucinda Creighton described the decision as “madness” and added that Mr Gormley must intervene to stop it.

She said: “This is a bizarre decision from an organisation that is supposed to protect our environment. The Poolbeg Incinerator will be built on a site that is designated as an environmental protection area by the EU. This will have a hugely destructive effect on the local environment and on the quality of life of the citizens of Dublin.”

Satisfied

Despite these objections, the EPA said that it was “satisfied that the operation of the facility, in accordance with the conditions of the licence, will not endanger human health or harm the environment in the vicinity of the facility or over a wider area.”

The EPA explained that the licence contained more than 216 individual conditions relating to the environmental management, operation, control and monitoring of the proposed facility – in line with recommendations made by the Chairperson's report of the oral hearing held in Dublin in April 2008 and with concerns raised.

The plant will handle waste on behalf of the Irish capital's four councils – Dublin city, Fingal, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin – and will recover energy in the form of steam and electricity for export for the national grid, and for the transfer of heat to a municipal district-heating scheme, once such a scheme is available. It is expected to be fully operational by 2012, if work begins by early 2009 as planned.

The city has already signed a contract with US-owned energy from waste specialist Covanta Energy and Danish energy firm DONG Energy Generation to build the plant, which will be funded through a Public Private Partnership initiative.

A two month period during which a judicial review can be sought has not commenced. Related documents can be downloaded from the EPA website.

A spokesman for Dublin city council said: “Work on the project will not start for some time. In the intervening period the City Council will further examine issues in relation to Community Gain and Monitoring of the Facility on behalf of the Community by Independent Experts. The City Council will engage with local community groups in this regard and an open day will be arranged in the local community on the 17th January 2009.”