A McDonald's fast food outlet in Limerick has become the first branch in the State to have the use of phosphate-based detergents prohibited, in a decision that has implications for its central purchasing policies.
It has emerged that Limerick County Council is the only local authority to have required an effluent licence from a McDonald's branch, although by law all such enterprises should have one.
McDonald's Ireland unsuccessfully appealed to An Bord Pleanala against a licence condition that it cease using a phosphate-based floor cleaner and a washing powder used to wash uniforms. The McDonald's discharge enters the Shannon Estuary, a designated Special Area of Conservation, at a point where the water is classed as freshwater.
McDonald's claimed that in none of its other 61 restaurants in the State was the use of such detergents prohibited, and "no other local authority has seen cause to require McDonald's to apply for a licence".
"As far as we know, in the Limerick County Council area, no other fast-food restaurant, or indeed any restaurant, has been required to apply for a licence," it stated, arguing the requirement would put it at a competitive disadvantage.
It stated: "Every other McDonald's uses standard McDonald's materials. The specifications for these materials have been carefully developed over many years to ensure the optimum benefit."
Phosphate-based detergents are significant water polluters. The final report on the Lough Derg and Lough Ree catchment showed that 40 per cent of the phosphates in waste water plants comes from domestic laundry detergents.
The council pointed out that unlicensed commercial discharges were illegal under the Water Pollution Act and the onus was on the operator to apply for a licence.
McDonald's claimed the Limerick branch, which serves 500 meals a day and employs 20 people, was discharging just 46 grams of phosphate a day, "a very small amount" which did not warrant restriction.
The council argued that: "While every individual contributor to the problem might seem insignificant, it is the accumulation of these individual discharges which is of concern and which the council is trying to address in introducing this condition to all new and renewed licences where there is evidence of significant use of detergents."
The local authority requested the application for an effluent licence from the McDonald's branch after it found that fat blocking sewer pipes in the area in 1999 could be traced to the restaurant and businesses at the Crescent Shopping Centre.
Clan Court, operators of the shopping centre, have appealed against the same licence condition to An Bord Pleanala and are awaiting a decison.