The Dublin Waste to Energy Project is looking at the possibility of providing a thermal treatment plant to treat 25 % of household and commercial waste that cannot be reused or recycled. 

Integrated Waste Management

Integrated waste management is a carefully chosen combination of many different waste management options to provide the best waste management solution for Dublin. The four chosen options are:  

• Recycle as much waste as possible. We must recycle an enormous 59% of our waste by 2004 - currently we recycle only 10%
• Reduce the amount of waste generated and reuse materials
•  Recover energy from waste. Thermal Treatment (the process by which heat is applied to waste in order to sanitise it and reduce its bulk, prior to final disposal) is essential to dramatically reduce the volume of waste going to landfill and to make use of the energy contained in the waste. 
• Residual landfilling of 'leftover' waste  

This approach is based on the European hierarchy of waste management. The four Dublin Local Authorities adopted this integrated approach to waste management when they approved the regional Waste Management Plan in 1998/99. 

Dublin Waste to Energy Project: Protecting the Environment

All waste management options impact on the environment and the Dublin Waste to Energy Project aims to develop a plant that has the least possible impact on the environment and on the community close to the proposed site. The company chosen to build and operate the plant will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (an evaluation of likely environmental impacts and an inventory of the concerns of the community).

The Waste to Energy Plant will also require a Waste Licence. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue this licence and will ensure all emissions from the plant are below the strict limits set in EU legislation which guarantee the protection of public health and the environment.

Project Team

Dublin City Council has appointed a consortium to plan the development on their behalf. The consortium is led by Irish engineering and environmental consultants M.C.O'Sullivan & Co. Ltd. who offer specialist waste management expertise and also includes COWI, a Danish constancy providing specialist expertise in thermal treatment. These two companies form the basis of a joint venture and are assisted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, McCann Fitzgerald and EC Harris. Mary Murphy Associates, PDA International and Prof. Judith Petts are providing specialist advice on public involvement.

The consortium will:

• Provide information to the public
• Identify possible environmental impacts
• Consult the public about ways to minimise impacts
• Facilitate the tendering process
• Ensure best available technology is used
• Facilitate establishment of a Public Private Partnership to design, build, operate and finance the plant

This partnership is between the 'public' (represented by Dublin City Council) and a private company, where both parties share costs, expertise, technology and responsibility for developing the plant. This ensures the public get the best service and best value for money. The company can then charge for use of the facility, which will revert to Local Authority ownership after a 20-year period.

Timescale

The Dublin Waste to Energy Project is part of the overall implementation of a better way to deal with the waste from Dublin City. A number of events have lead up to this point in the process:

• The adoption of the Waste Management Plan for Dublin in 1998 
• A Feasibility Study then looked at the various environmental and siting considerations

These studies concluded that the preferred site for constructing a thermal treatment plant for Dublin is on the Poolbeg Penninsula. However, a lot of steps have to be taken before this can happen, including attaining planning permission and a licence from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Public Involvement will be ongoing throughout the project.