SI No. 400 of 2017 Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2017

Transcription

1 SI No. 400 of 2017 Waste Management (Tyres and Waste Tyres) Regulations 2017 Presentation by: Ian Davis PURE (Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments) To: Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment PURE, (Protecting Uplands and Rural Environments), is a partnership project and the first of its kind in Ireland which incorporates statutory and non-statutory organisations, including; Wicklow County Council, South Dublin County Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, Coillte, National Parks & Wildlife Service, and the Wicklow Uplands Council, and was established to combat illegal dumping/fly-tipping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands. The project is funded by The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, with additional financial and in-kind contributions from the other key stakeholders. PURE was officially launched in September 2006 as a three-year pilot initiative and was due to end in December In the past elven years I have submitted four Project Evaluations and Submissions of Extension to the department of environment, the most recent in September 2016, to the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, who committed funding until the end of The PURE project focuses directly on combating illegal dumping/fly-tipping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands, by utilising a multi-disciplined approach, incorporating a number of enforcement and preventative measures, media/pr campaigns, public awareness campaigns, community projects, and educational initiatives, including; Facilitate Public reporting of fly-tipping/illegal dumping through multiple channels EPA lo-call-phone-line, , and directly to PURE Environmental Effectiveness development of a unique data-base to record all complaints, reports and incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping A Dedicated clean-up vehicle which responds to all incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping GPS/GIS data-base to record all incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping Deployment of PURE covert CCTV in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands based on data collected by GPS/GIS data-base Public Awareness various campaigns to create environmental awareness Multi Media Environmental Exhibitions e.g., creation of environmental videos showing the negative impact illegal dumping has on our environment and various PURE multimedia projects 1

2 Website and social media providing information on all aspects of PURE Website Facebook Twitter Community Initiatives in 2010 I established The PURE Mile an environmental project that encourages communities, groups, individuals, walking groups, cycling groups, scout groups and all members of society to adopt rural roads and work together to improve and enhance the environment, community and heritage over 50 groups and 150 miles of road adopted in 2017 Education Programmes Over the years I have created a number of educational projects, including, the PURE Primary School Teacher s Pack and primary school projects, PURE Wisdom, secondary school projects, PURE Animation, PURE Music, and PURE Theatre Media Campaign An extensive regional and national P.R. and media campaign to create awareness of the effects of illegal dumping Reports/Complaints of Illegal Dumping I receive reports and complaints for illegal dumping from a number of channels: A. EPA lo-call-phone-line ( ) B. PURE office C. s E. Social Media Twitter, Facebook, etc. I actively promote the EPA lo-call phone number, (TV, Radio, Print Media, Social Media, etc.), and PURE receive the majority of reports to this line, with Wicklow County Council and South Dublin County Council accounting for the second and third highest number of reports/complaints to the EPA phone line Dublin is first. I also receive calls/reports/complaints to PURE office, i.e., phone, mobile, twitter, facebook, etc., originating from a number of different sources, including but not limited to, all associated Local Authorities, Coillte, NPWS, Private Landowners, Walking Groups, Special Interest Groups, Tourism Operators and the General Public. In 2007, and in conjunction with a data-base designer, we developed a data-base system to record all reports/complaints and locations affected by illegal dumping. All reports made to the lo-call phone, and made directly to the PURE office, i.e., by phone, , and social media, are recorded on this data-base. The data-base allows for multiple searches of information, i.e., report/complaint date, complainant details, location of dumping, waste type, waste quantity, date for collection and date of collection. I have received over 10,000 reports/complaints since

3 PURE GPS/GIS DATA BASE/PURE TRUCK The PURE GPS/GIS data base records all incidents of illegal dumping by GPS. I then transfer this information onto a GIS data base system (mapping system), which provides comprehensive information on; date of collection, time of collection, location of dumping, landowner, type of waste dumped and the quantity of waste dumped at site. The GPS unit also enables the user to take a photograph of the site. Since the establishment of PURE, the project has built up a comprehensive base-line data of illegal dumping, with over 10,000 individual dumping sites recorded from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands, which is invaluable information in combating, preventing and alleviating illegal dumping. From 2007 to 1 st October 2017, The PURE Truck has removed, 3, tonnes of illegal dumping from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands. If you were to put all this waste into standard household rubbish bags, you would fill over 400,000 bags. If you lined up each of the bags that PURE has removed from the uplands, they would stretch over 400 kilometres in length, which is longer than a journey from Dublin to Baltimore in County Cork (353 kilometres). To place the total tonnage collected by PURE into context; in 2016 the PURE Truck collected tonnes of illegally dumped waste, resulting in 110 truckloads, with an average total weight of 2.3 tonnes. Using the figure of 3, tonnes of total waste collected, it indicates that over 1,331 full truckloads of illegally dumped rubbish has been removed from Wicklow/Dublin Uplands, and environs, since the establishment of the project. Based on the current statistics available, it is estimated that in 2017 PURE will remove approximately 235 tonnes of illegally dumped waste from the upland regions from approximately 1,000 individual sites. The majority of these dumping sites are located in some of the most scenic tourist areas of Ireland. PURE collect illegal dumping for all the organisations involved in the project, i.e., Wicklow County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, South Dublin County Council, Coillte, National Parks & Wildlife Service and the Wicklow Uplands Council. I work with a diverse range of community groups/organisations, PURE Mile groups, walking groups, running groups, cycling groups, special interest groups, environmental organisations and private landowners, and assists them in the removal of illegal dumping, and provide advice on suitable preventative measures in relation to illegal dumping. Below are details of tonnages of illegal dumping collected between 2014 and 2017 Total tonnage for 2014 = tonnes of tyres removed from Wicklow/Dublin Uplands in 2014 Total tonnage for 2015 = tonnes of tyres removed from Wicklow/Dublin Uplands in 2015 Total tonnage for 2016 = tonnes of tyres removed from Wicklow/Dublin Uplands in

4 Total tonnage for 2017 = (January 2017 to 1 st October 2017) tonnes of tyres removed from Wicklow/Dublin Uplands in 2017 (January 2017 to 1 st October 2017) Below are details of all Complaints/Collections/Tonnages from 2007 to 1 st October 2017) Item TOTAL Complaints ,640 Collections ,030 Tonnage , Below are details of tyre tonnages collected / illegally dumped in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands in TYRE COLLECTIONS AND WEIGHTS 2017 DATE TOTAL TONNES TOTAL TYRES 2017 In 2017 The PURE Truck removed eight truckloads of tyres from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands with a combined weight of tonnes. It is estimated that 1 tonne of tyres equals 200 car tyres, which provides a figure of over 2,300 tyres dumped in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands. The majority of PURE tyre collections in 2017 were located in the Piperstown area of South Dublin and the North Wicklow Uplands. 4

5 Below are details of tyre tonnages collected / illegally dumped in the Wicklow/Dublin from 2009 to 2017 TYRE COLLECTIONS AND WEIGHTS 2009 TO 2017 DATE TOTAL TONNES TOTAL As stated earlier, it is estimated that 1 tonne of tyres equals 200 car tyres, and considering that between 2009 to 1 st October 2017 PURE removed a total of tonnes of tyres, this provides a total of figure of 12,826 tyres being removed from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands during this period, with an average total of 1,425 tyres and 7.12 tonnes annually. BENEFITS OF PURE The establishment of PURE has removed a number of the past inefficiencies relating to illegal dumping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands, including; Early identification of illegal dumping sites, swift removal of illegally dumped waste, which reduces further dumping occurring at a particular site(s). Increased cooperation between statutory and non-statutory organisations, and increased coordination and cooperation at a number of sites which have been, and continue to be, affected by illegal dumping, which have resulted in litter fines and prosecutions. PURE collaborates with all of the organisations involved in the project and assists them in organising clean-ups of affected sites. The project also organises all removal of waste from these sites. The establishment of PURE has lessened ambiguity over both, landownership and who is responsible for waste removal. In the past this ambiguity resulted in the slow removal of waste from the upland areas, which resulted in further illegal dumping at sites. Considering that the majority of property owners in the upland area are involved in PURE, and the projects in-depth knowledge of property ownership in this area, all waste is removed efficiently and speedily. Prior to the establishment of PURE there was no accurate recording of illegal dumping, i.e., locations, date of report, date of collection, waste type, amount of waste, landowner, etc. 5

6 The only information that was available was the approximate amount of waste that was deposited to landfill, which often included collections of non-illegal dumping, e.g., street bins and street cleansing from villages and urban areas. PURE has gathered significant statistical information relating to illegal dumping and provides a micro view of the illegal dumping activity for the entire country. Since the establishment of PURE the project has built up a comprehensive base-line data of illegal dumping and this information is available for advanced analysis which can be used to help devise reduction measures and is conveniently available in a GIS format, which is a best practice tool for other initiatives who are combating illegal dumping. The presence of illegal dumpsites in the picturesque Wicklow/Dublin Uplands is a clear dis-benefit to the Irish tourism product. Speedy removal of this waste is a clear benefit to the Irish tourism product and the Irish economy. For the past eleven years, PURE has been highly effective in developing and creating a multidisciplined approach in combating illegal dumping, incorporating both statutory and non-statutory organisations, enhancing public awareness of dumping, and engaging with all demographics, young and old, through the creation of innovative projects, such as, primary school and secondary school initiatives, PURE Animation, PURE Music, PURE Wisdom, PURE Theatre, and encouraging community participation in the PURE Mile, PURE Multi Media Environmental Awareness Exhibitions, and running a successful regional and national media campaign to highlight the illegal dumping issue. I have provided a selection of photographs of illegally dumped tyres in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands. 6

7 Dumped Tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands May 2017 Dumped Tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands

8 Dumped Tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands September 2016 Dumped Tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands September

9 PURE Truck Collection of illegal dumped tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands Dumped Tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands

10 Dumped Tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands 2014 Dumped Tyres in Wicklow/Dublin Uplands