A workshop was told yesterday that Louth County Council delayed adopting the draft waste management plan for the northeast because of the perceived health effects of incineration.
However, Mr P.J. Rudden, of consultant engineers MC O'Sullivan, told council members at the workshop that he believed those fears had been laid to rest by the presentation of Dr Dieter Schrenk, a professor of environmental toxicology at the German University of Kaiserslautern.
Dr Schrenk spoke about the dioxins produced in the emissions from incineration. "In my view, modern incineration does not contribute much to dioxin levels," he said.
Prof Paul Connett told the workshop that the recycling of waste needed to be backed up with landfill, not incineration. Incineration was resource destruction, not recovery, he said. Under targets set in the draft waste management plan, 43 per cent of waste will be recycled, with the dependence on landfill reduced from its present level of 96 per cent to 18 per cent.
Opening the workshop, Ms Jean Clarke of MC O'Sullivan said the plan, which has been adopted by the other north-east counties, involved an integrated approach to waste management.
Louth councillors are expected to vote on whether to adopt the plan at their next meeting on September 18th.