Ireland fares poorly in European waste report
Ireland has performed poorly in a report on how we manage our waste.
The European Commission report has ranked the country in 15th out of the 27 member states, scoring just 19 out of a possible 42 points.
The report grades member states against criteria such as total waste recycled and infringements on European legislation.
Failings include poor or non-existent waste prevention policies; a lack of incentives to divert waste from landfills; and inadequate infrastructure - and it says the outlook in Ireland is poor.
Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "The picture that emerges from this exercise confirms my strong concerns. Many Member States are still landfilling huge amounts of municipal waste – the worst waste management option – despite better alternatives, and despite structural funds being available to finance better options.
"Valuable resources are being buried, potential economic benefits are being lost, jobs in the waste management sector are not being created, and human health and the environment suffer. This is hard to defend in our present economic circumstances."
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