Dublin City Council to miss target for recycling

Dublin City Council's ambition to recycle 60 per cent of household waste by 2004 is unlikely to be achieved for another five years, a new report has predicted.

The Dublin City Council Review of Waste Management Plan, a copy of which has been seen by The Irish Times, was carried out by Mazars Consultants and University College Dublin. It has concluded that the current regional waste management strategy is too ambitious.

The report details a range of key targets which have already been delayed by between two and three years and suggests that the prime target to recycle 60 per cent of household waste may be up to five years late.

A key element in the delay has been the realisation that just 77 per cent of household waste is actually recyclable.

The report also notes that to date the waste management plan has encountered:

a two-year delay in the provision of thermal treatment;

a 2½-year delay in the provision of a construction and demolition waste facility;

a two-year delay in the roll-out of recycling banks;

a 2½-year delay in additional bailing facilities in Ballyogan transfer depot.

Although the report covers only the City Council's participation in the Waste Management Plan shared by four local authorities, its findings indicate that many targets of the Dublin Regional Waste Management plan cannot be met by 2004 as planned.

The report also predicts the cost of waste management services to the council in 2002 will be in the order of €76 million, with an income of just €30 million.

It suggests the real cost of the household waste collection service is €320 per household. The current charge imposed on households by the city council is just €154.

While it finds considerable slippage from the original waste management targets, the report did find that the strategy was successful in keeping the rate of growth in household waste to 1.47 per cent per annum. It also found that the acceptance of the "green bin" for recycling was up to 90 per cent of all households and was working well.

A key aspect of the plan, the introduction of a separate collection for biodegradable waste, was on target for the end of 2004. This collection, to involve householders using a third wheelie bin, will also involve the provision of a biological treatment centre. The report is due to be debated at the council meeting on September 1st.

Cllr Ruairi McGinley emphasised that while there had been "slippage" in targets, recycling levels had risen from a zero base in 1997 to about 20 per cent in 2002. In relation to the report's findings on costs, Cllr McKinley said: "The Department of Finance would no doubt like to recoup the full cost, the Department of the Environment would also be keen to make the service self-sufficient and maybe some council officials would too, but it would not get past the elected members."

Thousands of Dublin residents who have failed to pay their bin charges will not have refuse collected from outside their homes if they don't pay up within 14 days. Dublin City Council has sent letters to 37,000 people who have not paid the €154 yearly charge, warning them that the collection service is about to be withdrawn.