PRESS RELEASE

March 29, 2002

CHASE welcomes the Celtic Waste plans announced 26^th March

CHASE welcomes the proposal for a materials recycling and recovery facility for the Cork area. The planning application is receiving detailed examination by the CHASE technical task force at present and submission will be made to Cork Co. Co in due course.

The announcement reinforces CHASE’s contention that the tacking of the waste issue at source by avoidance, reuse, recovery, recycling and safe landfill of inorganic residue materials is the only sustainable manner to deal with our 21^st century waste issues.

The proposals, when coupled with a public awareness campaign, a properly planned and funded segregation and collection system will move Cork along the ZERO waste roads for the benefit of all.  The positive spin-offs of materials recovery for local job opportunities will become apparent as new opportunities will present themselves for local entrepreneurs.

This development again undermine the economic arguments for the proposed Indaver  Irl Incinerators as there will simply be not enough waste to feed the proposed Incinerators once the MRF and recycling activities take root. This has been the case throughout Europe where Incinerators have been closing as recycling rates and alternative methods advanced.

Cork can now look forward to joining the leading recycling cities around the world such as the Canadian city of Edmonton, where they now prevent 70% of household waste going to landfill and in Halifax, Nova Scotia , they recycle 60%. Canberra ( Australia ) went from 22% to 66% in just six years and many US regions now recycle over 50% of their waste. Up to now Galway has led the way in Ireland with a locally funded initiative that is delivering 63% diversion from landfill. With the assistance of the Celtic Waste initiative and the Cork Co Councils assistance we hope to see Cork surpass these figures.