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The ESRI has published its report - 'An Economic Approach
to Municipal Waste Management Policy in Ireland' - which
provides a roadmap for managing municipal waste in an efficient
manner that minimises the costs to society.
The report states that Ireland is at an important junction
in municipal waste management policy. Significant progress
has been made in encouraging the use of recycling as an alternative
to landfill. Ireland has to meet legally binding EU Landfill
Directive targets that will become increasingly difficult
to meet in 2013 and 2016.
The report argues that markets do not always work well in
waste management, so government intervention is merited and
should be directed at improving the way markets work. If successful,
this will enhance Ireland's economic development and competiveness.
It suggests two ways in which waste markets do not work well
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- in handling greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and
disamenities such as dust & noise - and
- in addressing the potential for market power - particularly
in household waste collection.
Since geographical markets for waste services such as collection
are local or regional, policymaking should allow for local
variations as well as co-operation for where markets are wider.
The roadmap for municipal waste policy developed in the report
recommends -
- A cap-and-trade system be introduced to meet the EU Landfill
Directive targets for 2013 and 2016;
- The imposition of levies per tonne of municipal waste,
depending on the method of waste disposal:
- Landfill: €44.24 to €54.89 per tonne
- Urban Incineration: €4.22 to €5.07 per tonne
- Rural Incineration: €0.42 to €0.50 per tonne
- Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT): €0.92 to
€1.45 per tonne.
The levies are based on the unpriced environmental and disamenity
impact of the particular waste disposal method - and
- Competitive tendering for household waste collection,
which would address any market power problems.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
is also proposing a new waste management policy. Two vital
ingredients in that policy are -
- the proposed Section 60 policy direction to cap incineration
and other matters - and
- the international review of waste management policy, which
contains twenty-five recommendations.
The ESRI report questions whether these ingredients provide
a coherent and feasible basis on which to develop waste policy.
Arbitrary limits on incineration and consequent expansion
of MBT have no place in waste management policy.
The international review's setting of residual waste levies
is flawed - suffering from both double regulation and double
counting - with the result that some of the proposed levies
are much higher than is appropriate. It does not provide the
basis for a waste management policy that will create jobs,
enhance competitiveness and meet the EU Landfill Directive
targets.
Download - 'An Economic Approach to Municipal Waste Management
Policy in Ireland' - Click
Here
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