An upgrade of Clare’s recycling centres has been requested to encourage people who ‘are doing the right thing’.
Five recycling centres are operated by Clare County Council and are located in Ennis, Shannon, Scariff, Lisdeen and Inagh. Fifty bring bank facilities situated in a number of towns and villages are also in the control of the local authority.
Equipping the centres “to take all kinds of materials both waste and recyclable” will lead to more persons recycling, Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) believed in calling for an upgrade to the centres.
Amenity sites “accept a broad range of recyclable materials the details of which are available on the Council website. In addition the sites at Scarriff, Lisdeen and Inagh also accept municipal waste,” senior engineer Cyril Feeney outlined.
To carry out an upgrade, a new licence application must be obtained by the EPA to “enforce more onerous compliance conditions especially to deal with municipal waste,” Feeney said. He admitted, “Our Amenity sites are somewhat constrained in size due to the numerous recycling streams that are already provided. The sites, with the exception of Inagh, would not be able to facilitate the introduction of receiving new waste/recyclable materials because of the infrastructure and space which would be required to accommodate such a proposal. What is being proposed would potentially require additional land to be purchased or a new site selected with all the associated costs of development and ultimate operation”.
Kerbside collections are promoted under the Regional Waste Management strategy, under this 29,000 households in the county avail of the three bin collection system. “The introduction by the local authority of new waste disposal facilities could potentially be detrimental to that overall regional strategy,” Cyril outlined.
Operation of Civic Amenity Sites (CAS) was recently examined in a national study by the regional waste management planning offices . It evaluated operations at 30 of the 96 local authority CAS using data gathered in 2019. The initial study has found that of the 16 Local Authority operated CAS, one achieved a small surplus and the remaining 15 incur significant deficits.
This review is continuing to examine services provided, geographic location and cost structures across Ireland while the Environment section of the County Council are reviewing the operations of its five CAS. The findings of these will determine “if any, additional recyclable streams can be provided together with a thorough review of EPA licensing requirements, cost implications and charging mechanisms. This review will also look at municipal waste but as previously stated the preference would be to encourage use of the kerbside collection service”.
“We’re all fighting illegal dumping, this is not geared towards this, it is for the people who are doing the right thing by going to the recycling centre,” Cllr O’Callaghan explained. He highlighted that tins of paint can be accepted in Shannon but not Scariff and spoke of the added journeys placed on people by not equipping the centres.
His views were endorsed by Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) who seconded the proposal. “It makes great sense to have the one place where you can put everything,” she remarked.
Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) suggested the local authority leave a container for items not suitable for collection such as a mattress, the full container would then be moved to Inagh. “We have an awful problem with illegal dumping around our side of the county, rubbish is being gathered by Gallows Hill with a lorry because there is so much rubbish”.
