TAXPAYERS ARE facing a €2 billion bill over 25 years if Dublin City Council does not get out of the contract for the proposed Poolbeg incinerator, private waste collectors have claimed.
The Irish Waste Management Association, representing private waste collectors, also claimed the proposed 600,000 tonne incinerator would contribute to job losses as recycling processes generated 10 times more employment. It would drive up competition in the market, drive down recycling rates and lead to higher waste costs, the association also suggested.
The association accused the council of “scaremongering” the public and politicians into believing the incinerator contract with Covanta, signed in 2007, must be honoured or the State would face huge compensation bills.
The association was responding to a report on RTÉ’s Prime Time suggesting that a “get out” clause means the council can walk away from the contract this Sunday if certain conditions are not met.
This “startling revelation” was in stark conflict with “repeated threats” from the council of multi-million euro compensation bills if the project were halted, Brendan Keane of the association told a press conference in Dublin yesterday.
“The actions of the local authority look like another desperate attempt to ensure the incinerator goes ahead, despite being completely oversized.”
The council had several “very serious questions” to answer about how it communicated with the public and politicians about the project and should release the entire contract for public scrutiny. It now appeared the council always had the ability to walk away from the project, Mr Keane said.
The association claims a 600,000 tonne incinerator is far too large for the Dublin region waste market. If the project proceeds, it will cost taxpayers €2 billion over 25 years because the council has contracted to supply a high level of waste it does not have and faces paying large penalties, Mr Keane said.
The project has cost €120 million to date and the proposed incinerator would lose €10 million – €20 million each year, he said.
The four Dublin authorities were already losing €60 million a year on commercial waste services and, as residual waste volumes continued to fall nationally and in Dublin, the raw materials to run such an incinerator were no longer available, he said.
The association says independent research it commissioned had shown a 300,000 tonne incinerator was more appropriate for the Dublin market. The association also believes all waste collection services should be privatised.
