Meath spends twice the national average on waste services

Meath is top of the league when it comes to inspecting its waste services, but ranks just 17 out of 30 overall when it comes to regulation and enforcement, according to an RTE documentary aired last night.

A Primetime RTE Investigates Programme on Ireland’s waste problems found that between 2015 and 2016 Meath spent €36.87 per person on waste services, €19.65 more than the national average of €17.22.
The programme “Ireland’s Wild Waste” also found Meath inspected waste facilities 459 times between 2014 and 2016, the highest figure of any council and 340 more than the national average. 
However the council’s number of staff employed in the area at 16, and the rate of enforcement carried out were below the national average.
As part of the documentary, RTÉ Investigates analysed environmental data from the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Housing to determine which councils take waste offences seriously and who is left lagging behind.
By examining rates of inspections, enforcements, prosecutions and staffing levels between 2014 and 2016 they created a ranking of the best (1) and worst (30) councils at managing the waste industry. They compared how active councils were in these areas to the number of waste permits held in 2016.
They  found that Donegal was the poorest performing council in Ireland for its inspection rate of its facilities and for its investment in waste services, while Wicklow was the best for managing waste services. 
A spokesperson for Meath County council said in recent years the EPA designed a framework to assist local authorities to implement programmes of continual improvement in the area of environmental enforcement and under this framework the most recent EPA assessment of Meath County Council’s performance for 2015 and 2016 was ‘excellent’ and ‘above target’.  
She said the Council inspected waste facilities 459 times between 2014 and 2016, the highest figure of any Council and 340 more than the national average.
However, the inspections of waste permitted sites represents a small element of work in the waste area. “With the high levels of proof required to bring successful prosecutions through the courts, very considerable amounts of time are spent in preparing cases where no permits or other consents exist for hearing in the courts, some of which are initiated by the DPP,” she said.
“It should also be noted that Meath and the other counties surrounding the Dublin Metropolitan area face particular challenges with regard to waste arising from increased building activities in the capital city, the use of social media in advertising waste collection services at discount prices, and the dumping of collected materials at amenity areas in the county.
“The Council is currently focusing attention on these ‘man in the van’ type services with a view to initiating enforcement proceedings and using where possible recently acquired technology such as drones and wildlife cameras.”
The scourge of illegal dumping in Meath’s amenity areas and beauty spots will be tackled using drones and wildlife cameras, the Council has said.
“As Meath County Council continues its fight against illegal dumping, it will focus on the ‘man in a van’ advertising waste disposal on social media as one of the main causes of illegal dumping.”
Meath County Council recently successfully concluded remediation of an unauthorised landfill at Tymoole with almost 70,000 tonnes of waste removed to Knockharley landfill, eliminating the environmental risk and filling the void with clean soil and stone.
“The project has been delivered ahead of schedule and this also includes remedial works to the local roads, which was not part of the original project. The project had two separate working groups to ensure the highest level of communication, readiness in the event of an emergency situation, and transparency in the management of the project,”  said a Council spokesperson.