Mid-landers are watching to see who will draw the short straw in locating the incinerator to deal with the waste in their area.
Earlier this month the councils in Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford and North Tipperary met to discuss regional waste strategy. The Department of the Environment encourages local authorities to adopt a regional approach to waste management.
The region generates considerable waste, with households creating 85,289 tonnes annually, commercial outlets 317,851 tonnes, industry 110,000 tonnes and construction 145,000 tonnes.
The plan involves a major shift from landfill to recycling and incineration. The benefits would include the eventual closure of dumps at Kyletalesha, Co Laois, Derryclure, Co Offaly, Ballydonagh and Marlinstown, Co Westmeath and Ballaghveny in Tipperary North Riding.
The plan requires separate bins for recycling to be introduced to the 16 largest centres in the region and the opening of 12 recycling centres where people could deliver their waste. Within five years, special bins for food waste would be introduced and that waste would be biologically treated at a plant in the Tullamore area.
Three "green" or garden-waste compost plants would be opened at Mullingar, Portlaoise and Nenagh and two transfer sites would be set up to sort out the region's waste.
However, the most vexed proposal is for what is described as a "thermal treatment plant", an incinerator, to generate energy from the 100,000 to the 150,000 tonnes of suitable waste which will be generated annually by 2006.
This proposal has been left to last and a separate study will determine its location.
Mid-landers will have another six months to look at the draft plan before the matter goes back to the councils for their decision.
With the exception of the incinerator, the councils' response to the plan was quite good considering the controversy this subject tends to generate. There will be political ball-passing when the incinerator is eventually reported on, as all the councils have adopted the NIMBY (not in my back yard) approach.