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

832
29/09/09
procurement strategy, and work to identify appropriate sites, would need to
begin straightaway, and would probably still be too late to deliver what is
necessary. However, it might be realistic to expect such a development to bear
fruit only in a timescale of two years or so if this was prioritised by all relevant
parties (notably in respect of permitting, planning and funding). Furthermore,
these facilities would need to have some longer-term guarantee of waste into
their plant, and so without commitments of waste for the medium- to longterm,
they would be unlikely to be supported by debt finance, especially in the
current economic climate;
4. Identifying Identifying Identifying export export export markets markets markets for for residual residual residual BMW BMW BMW destined destined destined for for recovery recovery recovery facilities. facilities.
facilities.
Some SRF is already sent abroad for combustion in Sweden. The
development of incineration capacity abroad is tending towards over-capacity
in a number of situations. 1043 Given the high avoided cost of landfilling (higher
with an increase to the waste levy as proposed – see Section 56.2.1) the
potential to make use of surplus capacity abroad may be available. Clearly,
exports would have to be destined to recovery facilities, so not all incinerators
ought to be capable of receiving exports. Care would need to be taken to
ensure appropriate safeguards were in place regarding exports.
5. So So as as to to to buy buy some some some additional additional time time for for Ireland, Ireland, Ireland Ireland Ireland could could could consider consider baling baling of
of
waste waste prior prior to to subsequent subsequent subsequent use.
use.
Baling tends to be applied to materials which are subjected to biodrying, with a
view to later using the material as solid recovered fuel. However, this is a less
than ideal solution, whilst the approach lends itself to temporary storage. It is
not clear how temporary storage would need to be.
There are a worryingly large number of unresolved matters in seeking to understand
how efforts to meet the targets would be accounted for, let alone how they could be
achieved. The task is a large one, and the starting point is not a particularly strong
one.
The scenario set out at Figure 56-1 is not entirely implausible, but the scenario is
likely to see Ireland fail to deliver its 2010 targets unless growth is lower than we
have indicated. The scenario depicted in Figure 56-2 would require a considerable
mobilisation in a short period of time, and whilst this, along with changing the
accounting method for textiles, could deliver on the targets, it is the time available,
not the level of the achievement, which is the principle barrier.
Furthermore, these changes would be having to be made concurrently with a range of
changes in policy and institutions which appear, in our view, necessary to improve the
functioning of the waste management market and industry in Ireland. Evidently, at
some point one has to ask whether the achievement of a target which, because
changes might be being forced upon actors in an untimely manner, is expensive to
achieve is worth the significant effort that would be required, recognising also that the
2013 target is now looming rather large.
1043 See, for example, the recent report by NABU (2009) Müllverbrennung in Deutschland wächst
unkontrolliert – Recycling ist gefährdet, Müllimport wird attraktiver, Berlin, March 2009.