Synthesis Report for the ERTDI-funded project: 2001-WMWS-MS-1
Summary: STRIVE Report 26 - Mark Kelly and John Hanahoe
Construction and demolition waste production has seen a phenomenal increase from 1.52 million tonnes in 1995 to 16.82 million tonnes in 2006. The latter estimate establishes construction and demolition waste as the second-highest waste-producing sector behind agriculture, accounting for 55% of all non-agricultural waste produced in Ireland. The improvement in regulatory control with the implementation of the Waste Management Act, 1996 demanding improved reporting procedures, coupled with the exceptional economic activity in the country during this time, can go some way to accounting for this massive increase in waste production. The methodologies employed to generate these estimates were primarily based on data submitted by licensed and permitted facilities throughout the country. The EPA has identified serious deficiencies in the data submitted that undermine its confidence in the estimates produced2. Reliable waste production estimates are essential to benchmark industry’s performance against the target set out in the Waste Management: Changing Our Ways policy document of recycling 85% of construction and demolition waste by 2013.
In order to establish reliable benchmarks for industry, this Synthesis Report examines the generation of waste production indicators by directly auditing new construction projects. An audit tool was developed and tested on 57 new construction projects over a 2-year period (2004–2005) with the aim of providing individual waste production indicators for each audited site.
