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Waste contracts worth tens of millions of euro are to be
offered to private landfill operators by the four Dublin local
authorities when the last Dublin regional landfill closes
at the end of this year.
Almost all residual household waste collected in Dublin will
be in the hands of private waste companies following the closure
of the landfill at Arthurstown, near Kill, Co Kildare, next
December.
The landfill, which accepts 600,000 tonnes of municipal waste
per annum, was due to close in 2007. An Bord Pleanála granted
an extension of the facility until December 21st, 2010, but
no further deposits of household waste will be permitted after
this date.
It was initially envisaged there would be a short time lag
between the closure of Arthurstown and the opening of the
Poolbeg incinerator and that, during this period, waste would
be sent to the planned landfill at Nevitt, near Lusk - a Fingal
local authority area.
However, while the Lusk facility was granted planning permission
last year following protracted Bord Pleanála hearings on the
case held on three occasions over two years, it still has
not been granted an operating licence from the Environmental
Protection Agency. The Poolbeg incinerator will not be operational
until 2013 at the earliest and the region’s local authorities
have no other facilities to deal with household waste under
their control.
They are now in a position where they will have run out of
landfill space at the end of the year and, apart from small
amounts of capacity in neighbouring county council landfill
facilities, they will have to seek tenders from the private
sector to deal with waste.
Dublin City Council has advertised for interested parties
to enter into talks on the processing of up to 350,000 tonnes
of waste annually. While contracts have not yet been put out
to tender, a source close to the council has said they are
likely to be worth tens of millions of euro for the three
years until the Poolbeg incinerator is scheduled to open.
The Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA), which is opposed
to the Poolbeg incinerator, has several landfill operators,
including Greenstar - one of the largest private landfill
operators in the region - within its membership. A spokesman
for the IWMA said that the decision on whether to tender for
any new contracts was a matter for the individual members.
However, the spokesman added - “Just as Dublin City Council
expects that private industry can provide a short-term solution
to this waste issue, it is plain and obvious that industry
can supply a long-term solution also. This, again, highlights
the fact that the Poolbeg incinerator is simply too large
for the Dublin region and is possibly unnecessary.”
Source - The Irish Times
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