Contaminated Land Liability Contaminated sites have been less of a feature in Ireland than in the UK. However, there are significant environmental risk sites in various types of business and operations, including certain agricultural processing, petroleum, unlawful landfills, scrap yards and gasworks. The Environmental Liability Directive provided for general liability for environmental contamination. It is not retrospective. It does not […]
Licensing Waste facilities which are not subject to the integrated pollution control licensing or industrial emissions directive are subject to the ordinary waste licensing system. This usually applies to small-scale facilities involved in storage, recycling and recovery. They require a waste facility permit or certificate of registration. Certain categories of waste activities require a waste facility permit. Others require a […]
Waste Facilities Larger local authorities must provide facilities for the recovery and disposal of household waste within their functional areas. Planning authorities and Bord Pleanála must ensure that reasonable measures are taken so as to secure appropriate provision for waste management, particularly for recyclable materials within developments, including facilities for the storage, separation and collection of waste and recyclable materials. […]
Overview The principle behind the Waste Management legislation is that the polluter should pay and cover the cost of recovery. The legislation deals with waste at all parts of the chain, from its creation to its disposal. The waste legislation does not apply to the matters covered by air pollution, water pollution and radioactive substances legislation. The fundamental principle of […]
Litter Litter is any object (whether or not intended as waste) (but not waste lawfully consigned for disposal) which, when deposited anywhere other than in a litter bin or other designated place, is likely to become unsightly, nauseous, unsanitary or deleterious either by itself or in combination with other material. Local authorities must ensure that public roads are kept free […]
Commercial Waste Collection Commercial waste collected by an entity other than the local authority can only be collected in accordance with a waste permit or licence. There is an exemption for certain types of waste collection. This includes the incidental carrying of waste, transportation of waste by a vehicle with an axle weight of less than one tonne and the […]
Hazardous Waste There are special controls on hazardous waste. The storage of waste, even on a temporary basis, may require registration with the local authority with a permit. Non-hazardous waste is subject to local authority licensing. Hazardous waste is subject to more rigourous licensing. Hazardous waste must be placed in containers and packaged in accordance with EU standards. Hazardous waste […]
Duties The EPA is obliged to carry out monitoring of the nature and effects of emissions arising from the holding, recovery and disposal of waste. They have duties to periodically inspect facilities for holding, recovery and waste disposal. They must keep records of their monitoring and inspection. They can require a person to undertake monitoring and require that the records […]
Waste Holder The definition of a waste holder includes a waste producer or person who is in possession of waste. In case of accidental production of waste, both the occupier and third parties may be considered in possession or holder of waste if, for example, the leakage is due to the third party’s fault. This is without prejudice to the […]
Waste Hierarchy and Recovery The Waste Directive and the Waste Directive Regulations enact the waste hierarchy in Irish law. There is an order of priority of waste operations, prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, and another recovery, including energy recovery and ultimately and as a last resort only, safe and environmentally sound disposal. The hierarchy is a priority order and is […]
Electric Equipment and Vehicles Electrical and electronic equipment put on the market after July 2006 is subject to collection, treatment and recycling obligations. The regulations apply to goods running on mains or battery power up to a certain voltage. Certain categories of materials are excluded. Producers have to register with authorities. Certain goods must be labelled. Materials must be collected […]
Waste Management Plan Local authorities must prepare a waste management plan for non-hazardous waste. It deals with the prevention, minimisation, collection, recovery and disposal of non-hazardous waste. It must also deal with matters in relation to hazardous waste for which they are responsible. Joint plans may be made by councils. The plans must be reviewed as often as necessary and […]