Most recyclable waste in Ireland is sent abroad because of a lack of facilities to deal with it in the Republic, according to new figures by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Its report on waste for 2003 found that, while the recycling rate for household waste has risen by a third to 28 per cent, two out of every three tonnes of it went out of the State. Of the 727,000 tonnes recycled, 500,000 tonnes of waste were sent abroad, much of it to Northern Ireland, China and the Far East.
The report also showed that, despite the increased recycling rate, there was a significant increase in the amount of municipal waste generated last year, which rose by 10 per cent to 2.7 million tonnes.
The increase has been attributed to tighter enforcement and more accurate reporting of figures.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has sent an official warning to the Government about its failure to tackle cross-Border illegal dumping.
In a letter of formal notice, sent in October, the Commission raised serious concerns that the State was in breach of European directives on the trans-frontier shipment of waste, because of a series of incidents in which waste from the Republic was found in illegal dumps across the Border.
The letter also raised the discovery of hundreds of tonnes of illegal mixed waste in Belgium and Holland that was en route to the Far East for recycling and disposal.
The formal notice is the first stage in a prosecution by the Commission against a country for failure to enforce European legislation.
Commission officials say they are awaiting a detailed response from the Republic on continuing compliance efforts before deciding on whether to proceed with a case to the European Court of Justice.
The Commission has already taken a successful prosecution arising out of earlier breaches.
The Department of the Environment's position is that there has been a major increase in enforcement activities through the EPA's new network.
A cross-Border taskforce of police, the EPA, the Northern Ireland Office and local authority officials has resulted in operations targeting the gang suspected of illegal dumping.