Galway County Council is set to adopt Ireland’s first National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy which launched today.
This plan aims to tackle the significant waste challenges faced in Ireland and provides a new framework for the prevention and management of waste from 2024 to 2030.
The plan sets out an ambitious target of 0% waste growth per person. This means the amount of waste generated for each person is not going to increase above existing levels.
This equates to an effective 7-10% reduction in predicted waste generation by 2030.
The Plan emphasizes waste reduction from commercial activities and the construction and demolition sector and identifies 16 focus areas with 85 priority actions.
“As a nation, we’ve seen a significant increase in the amount of waste generated each year and it’s having a dramatic impact on our environment, our climate and our natural resources,” Kevin Swift, Regional Waste Co-ordinator Connacht Ulster.
“Last year alone we collected over 13 and a half million tonnes of waste – or over 2 tonnes per person. That’s the equivalent weight of two cars! This cannot continue.”
“We urgently need a new approach, and this plan provides a roadmap for how we can produce less waste and become more circular by repairing, reusing, and recycling more.”
The plan also aims to encourage sustainable consumption, with proposals for more awareness campaigns, education programmes, and demonstration projects, as well as promoting the correct use of collection bins.
It’s anticipated that the combined effect of these interventions will prevent 300,000 tonnes of waste over the life of this Plan and increase the recycling rate by up to 9%,” said Mr Swift.
“It’s also really important that we become more creative with the waste we do produce and look at innovative ways to encourage recycling such as the Deposit Return Scheme,” he added.
The private waste sector in Ireland is valued at over €1.4bn and provides employment for approximately 10,000 people.
The total Local Authority expenditure on waste functions exceeds €280M annually and involves over 1700 people.
The scale of the financial and human commitment to waste services is large, yet the plan highlights that the transition to a circular economy will require additional State investment of at least €40 million to achieve the desired outcomes.
