International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

It acknowledges the role of a number of potential supplementary measures in
reducing the level of BMW sent to landfill and accelerating progress toward the BMW
diversion targets, including:
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accelerated planning for MBT facilities, minimum standards for MBT waste,
support of composting initiatives, the role of incineration and increased
coverage of pay by unit and ‘three-bin’ systems nationally.
51.5.2 MSW - Pre-treatment and Residuals Management
In the Autumn of 2008, the EPA consulted upon a Technical Guidance Document
entitled Municipal Solid Waste - Pre-treatment and Residuals Management. 877 This
was subsequently finalised and issued in June 2009. 878 The document suggests that
the initiatives set out in the Guidance were intended to assist delivery of Ireland’s
obligations under the EU Waste Framework Directive (2006/12/EC), the EU Landfill
Directive (1999/31/EC), and the EU IPPC Directive (96/61/EC).
Article 6 of the Landfill Directive requires, inter alia, that: 879
Member States shall take measures in order that:
(a) only waste that has been subject to treatment is landfilled. This
provision may not apply to inert waste for which treatment is not
technically feasible, nor to any other waste for which such treatment
does not contribute to the objectives of this Directive, as set out in
Article 1, by reducing the quantity of the waste or the hazards to
human health or the environment;
For existing landfills, this was to take effect ten years after the publication date in the
Official Journal, and for new landfills, the requirement took effect two years after its
publication (i.e. on the date of transposition).
Ireland’s approach to implementing this particular aspect of the Directive appears to
have been somewhat delayed, particularly with regard to new landfills (for which the
requirement to ensure that all waste landfilled has been pre-treated has been in
place, formally, for eight years).
The general thrust of the Pre-treatment Guidelines is positive. The Guidelines have
ambitious objectives, effectively seeking to simultaneously:
1. Comply with Article 6 of the Landfill Directive;
2. Define BAT (though the term is not always applied in the conventional context);
3. Deliver on Landfill Directive targets; and
877 EPA (2008) Municipal Solid Waste - Pre-treatment and Residuals Management: An EPA Technical
Guidance Document, Consultation Draft, Johnstown Castle Estate: EPA.
878 EPA (2009) Municipal Solid Waste - Pre-treatment and Residuals Management: An EPA Technical
Guidance Document, Johnstown Castle Estate: EPA.
879 Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste Official Journal L 182 ,
16/07/1999 pp. 1 – 19.
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes