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

uneconomic infrastructure and regional monopolies.’ 109 Forfás suggests that cost
efficiency has been sacrificed for the development of regional waste management
plans, but neither in the case of Forfás nor in the case of IBEC is the evidence for the
statements concerning infrastructure being ‘uneconomic’, or similar, made clear. 110
The OECD claims that the regional waste management planning has had an effect
which is the opposite of that intended. 111 They argue that the result has been
overcapacity for landfill and a slowdown in the development of infrastructure higher in
the hierarchy. Again, the argument is not substantiated by clear evidence, and in any
case, where infrastructure is slow to develop, then capacity for landfill would,
presumably, have to be greater than would otherwise have been envisaged. In other
words, the one might be a logical requirement of the other.
5.2 A National Waste Board?
In 2002 the DoEHLG reviewed the policy statement ‘Changing Our Ways’ and
suggested several recommendations with respect to regionality. Included in these
recommendations was the suggested creation of a National Waste Board which would
oversee the regional plans.
The National Waste Board was expected to: 112
77
� coordinate the national and regional waste management plans
� provide advice to public bodies and the private sector
� act as a consultative body in the development of EU policy change
� ensure the achievement of the targets set out in the national waste strategy
� monitor and evaluate best practice
� undertake public consultations on developments in waste strategy and provide
awareness education
The review which followed the ‘Changing Our Ways’ policy statement, ‘Taking Stock
and Moving Forward’, suggested that planning at the national level was unnecessary:
There have been calls to consider replacing the regional approach to waste
management planning with a single national waste management plan. The
reality is that a very clear national policy policy framework, setting ambitious targets
for radical change in our approach to waste management to be achieved over
109 IBEC (2006) IBEC welcomes Government's review of waste market, available at:
http://www.ibec.ie/ibec/press/presspublicationsdoclib3.nsf/wvPCICCC/2DE72CDC52A50B9780257
1BF0057ADA5?OpenDocument
110 Forfás (2008) Waste Management Benchmarking Analysis and Policy Priorities, available at:
http://www.forfas.ie/media/forfas080528_waste_benchmarking.pdf
111 OECD (2008) Ireland: Toward an Integrated Public Service, Paris: OECD, available at:
http://www.oecd.org/document/31/0,3343,en_2649_33735_40529119_1_1_1_1,00.html
112 EPA (2002) Delivering Change: Preventing and Recycling Waste, Wexford: EPA, available at:
http://www.epa.ie/downloads/pubs/waste/plans/name,11646,en.html
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes