Commitments to establish a system by 2023 were not met, leaving the risk of accidental poisoning, deliberate harm and drug abuse unresolved. The number one query from the public on the mywaste.ie advice portal was what to do with unused medicines. Medication can seriously impact the environment if flushed down toilets or left to decompose with organic waste. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste are not being properly managed. Nearly half, just under 190,000 tonnes in 2023, is shipped abroad because there are no domestic facilities. Batteries, solvents, waste oil, asbestos, hospital and radioactive waste, wastewater treatment sludge, soils contaminated with so-called "forever chemicals" and electrical equipment are exported. Reliance on foreign treatment creates crisis risk if accepting facilities stop imports. A 2021 national hazardous waste management action plan runs to 2027, but progress has been very slow and priority areas need attention.
Medication, which can also have a serious impact on the environment if flushed down toilets or left to decompose with organic waste, are among hundreds of thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste the EPA says Ireland is failing to properly manage. Half of it, just under 190,000 tonnes in 2023 - the most recent year for which data is complete - is shipped abroad because there are no facilities in Ireland.
The EPA says this situation can not continue, as the country is failing to take responsibility for its own waste, and a crisis would arise if any of the facilities abroad decided to stop accepting imported wastes. "Our report highlights a strong case for investment in Ireland's hazardous waste treatment infrastructure," David Flynn, director of the EPA's office of environmental sustainability, said.
#ireland #hazardous-waste-management #pharmaceutical-disposal #waste-infrastructure #environmental-pollution
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