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Waste Enforcement

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Legal Requirements to be Met in Relation to Disposal and Recovery of Waste

Illegal Dumping

  1. Recurrent Dumping on Lands, Public Roads, Bogs etc.
  2. Unpermitted waste activities & breach of waste permit
  3. Abuse of Bring Banks
  4. Unpermitted Waste Collection & Breach of Collector Permit

Measures Employed to Enforce Waste Legislation

Waste/Litter Enforcement Team

Conclusion

Legal Requirements to be Met in Relation to Disposal and Recovery of Waste

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Illegal Dumping

Littering is mainly casual and rarely premeditated. Illegal dumping may be planned and may involve participation or connivance of land owner with person(s) dumping, and/or payment of one party by another. Illegal dumping occurs on a number of levels or in varying degrees of seriousness.

Recurrent Dumping on Lands, Public Roads, Bogs etc.

Many sites are known, often in our bogland and forest areas or adjacent to our larger towns. All sites are investigated and where possible, action taken under the Waste Management and Litter Pollution Acts through:

Unpermitted waste activities & breach of waste permit

Note: The distinction made between 'Illegal Dumping' and this related activity is that this activity is generally more formal, may be organised on a business footing, occurs on accessible sites, and may in some cases be amenable to legitimization if a waste permit is applied for – whereas 'Illegal Dumping' is more typically opportunistic but concentrated dumping in a bog, or forest, or other isolated place.

Disposal of Construction-demolition Waste (CDW)

Filling of small sites to raise land levels, for building, agricultural or other purposes, has been going on as a routine activity in North Tipperary as in other counties for many years. Few developers or their professional advisers appear to have a consciousness of the concept of such "dry filling" and subsoil materials as wastes coming under environmental legislation. Bigger sites are also being filled with CDW materials. It is suspected that some sites, big and small, in which CDW materials are being deposited also contain concealed domestic and other putrescible and polluting wastes.

Burial of Waste

This activity is related to some extent to disposal of construction-demolition waste, in that filling of sites by seemingly inert CDW may be used to conceal domestic or other polluting wastes. This is suspected to be happening in various parts of the county. It is also possible, although there are no currently suspect sites, that quarries and similar sites may be used for burial of other polluting wastes.

Abuse of Bring Banks

There are approximately 39 bring bank sites for glass and cans, some of them incorporating plastic bottle banks.

Illegal dumping of recyclable materials and general wastes - Public users leave cardboard boxes, plastic/paper bags etc. at the site after putting recyclable in bring banks. Users also leave bags and boxes of recyclable beside banks whether banks are full or not. General waste, grass cuttings, etc are also left.

Businesses abusing facilities - A number of publicans, newsagents, and small shops use facilities that are provided for domestic users. All Council operated bring banks are for domestic use only and businesses should contact their local waste operator or the Council for further information.

Vandalism to bring banks - defacement, burning, overturning to spill contents, etc.

Seasonal variations affecting both compliant customers and abusers – e.g. fast filling of banks in tourist areas in summer, with collection contractors unable to keep pace, extra packaging and food wastes after Christmas, surges of recycling after bank holiday weekends.

Unpermitted Waste Collection & Breach of Collector Permit

Collector permits are issued by Offaly County Council, as lead authority in our waste management region, to collectors based in and/or collecting wastes in North Tipperary.

It has come to the attention of North Tipperary County Council that there are a number of unpermitted waste collectors operating in the county.

Under the Waste Management (Collection Permit) Regulations, 2001, all waste collectors must have a valid Waste Collection Permit.

If any member of the public is found to be using an illegal or unauthourised collector they will be liable for a litter fine or may be prosecuted under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, Waste Management Act 1996 - 2000 and Protection of the Environment Act 2003 to a maximum of €130,000. A householder can also be billed for the cost of removing illegally dumped waste.
If a collector comes to your door, or advertises in fliers offering to collect your waste (clean out your garage, remove old washing machines, fridges and domestic rubbish), ask to see a copy of their Waste Collection Permit. Offaly County Council issues Waste Collection Permits for the Midlands Region (North Tipperary, Offaly, Laois, Longford and Westmeath). Roadside checkpoints are being held in cooperation with Gardai, throughout the county, on a regular basis to try and prevent this form of Illegal Waste Collection.

If you have doubts as to a collectors authenticity, visit www.tipperarynorth.ie/environment/wastemanagement/wastepermitsregister Information regarding suspicious collectors can be passed on in confidence to North Tipperary County Council on the Litter Hotline 1800 250 350. We need your co-operation to provide a cleaner and healthier environment.

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Measures Employed to Enforce Waste Legislation

An Enforcement Team investigates and prosecutes breaches of law in relation to enforcement of waste management legislation activities undertaken include carrying out of some or all of the following activities:

The following specific activities are receiving attention:

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Waste/Litter Enforcement Team

North Tipperary County Council’s two litter Wardens each has responsibility for separate areas in the County. Their day to day patrols are carried out throughout these areas, in both a proactive patrol capacity and in response to complaints received from members of the public.

Details available in relation to the breadth of their work and geographical spread relate to the complaints logged in the Environment Section, which were all followed up on by a site visit by the Litter Warden or Waste Enforcement Officer, leading to resolution on site, warnings (verbal and written) being issued, or further administrative follow up within the section in terms of the issue of enforcement notices, further visits to sites by Engineers or other staff.

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Conclusion

Although the waste enforcement section is relatively new, clear progress has been made in the areas of enforcement and in particular in the regulation of waste activities. This is shown through the significant increase in applications for waste permit and waste collection permits over the past number of months.

In addition to the statistical information provided, which gives an overview of the statutory enforcement actions taken by the enforcement team in working with the non-compliant minority, the Enforcement team is also playing an active role in working in an educational and advisory capacity, to ensure compliance and regulation across the county.

We see these successes being a direct result of the spirit of co-operation and partnership that is being cultivated with all sectors, from liaison with Gardai, statutory bodies, through to increased levels of co-operation with other local authorities and with the public in general

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