Irish Examiner - 09/01/06
Zero waste is the only sustainable policy

IN response to Environment Minister Dick Roche’s article on incineration (Jan 5), may I ask for some sympathy for people who find themselves in the path of a public policy which only provokes greater concern with every attempted explanation.

In the efforts to deal with our waste crisis we cannot leave the door open to inappropriate solutions promising quick results. If our leaders cannot aspire to zero waste, they have no credibility when it comes to responsible waste management.

We do not have to depend on landfill for a huge proportion of our waste for decades to come. We must implement prevention policies for sustainable waste management and not condemn our children to quick-fix incineration.

Please do not build a monopoly waste industry in anyone’s backyard, no matter what pressures are imposed by industry which appears to be paying least at the moment for managing their own waste. The taxpayer should not become hostage to the private sector’s need for profit.

A policy that appears to ignore people’s fears for their health arising from a toxic industry that has been sited among them for purely economic reasons provokes anger and resistance.

Muriel Bowen
Glenville
Monkstown
Co Cork