Ireland continues to perform poorly in meeting the waste management needs of business, a new report on waste management from state body Forfas shows today.
The benchmarking report against nine countries has concluded that Ireland's relatively high dependence on landfill is mainly due to the limited progress that has been made in delivering hard waste infrastructure.
Specific infrastructures required include thermal treatment for hazardous and non-hazardous waste, biological treatment and reprocessing facilities, the report recommends.
To accelerate the delivery of waste infrastructure, Forfas says market reform is needed to promote competition, and there should be co-ordination of regional waste plans, and improvements to the planning process to reduce lengthy delays.
The report says waste prevention/ minimisation initiatives currently being undertaken by organisations such as IBEC and the EPA need to continue their efforts to ensure businesses are fully aware of the benefits of waste prevention.
Ireland's continues to have a relatively high reliance on landfill for waste treatment, and Irish companies continue to have a limited choice of waste treatment solutions compared to their competitors, the report says.
The report says Ireland is the second most expensive country for landfill among the nine benchmark countries which include Scotland, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.
In 2005, Ireland disposed of 65% of its municipal waste in landfill, the second highest rate among the benchmark countries.
