Preliminary Screening
Preamble
In its manual on Landfill Site Selection, the EPA has set down a procedure whereby sites for development as landfill can be identified. As illustrated in Figure 1, from the EPA manual, a phased approach is recommended. This stepwise procedure was followed in the identification of a shortlist of sites for the Wexford Central Waste Management Facility.
- Figure 1 (Word Document, 35 kbs)
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Catchment Area
The catchment area for the landfill is the whole of Wexford County comprising 909 sq. miles (2,354 sq. km) with a population of 106,000.
Design Waste Input
Currently, the annual waste input to the Council’s landfill at Killurin is 55,000 tonnes/annum. The EPA National Waste Database indicates that between 1995 and 1998 there was a 3.5% annual increase in municipal waste arisings. Applying this growth rate to the current Wexford waste arisings over a twenty-year period would suggest that at the end of its life, the central landfill would receive 109,000 tonnes on an annual basis. County Wexford, because of its proximity to Dublin and improvements in the national road infrastructure, is subject to population growth rate in excess of the national average. This puts further pressure on waste arisings.
Both Council and Government policy is to reduce the above figure significantly. The Council’s policy, as given in the Waste Management Plan, has regard to the EU Directive on the Landfilling of Waste and the Packaging Directive. Subsequent to the publication of the plan, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government produced a document known as Changing Our Ways. This document gave Government policy on waste management and proposed targets for diversion of municipal waste from landfill. The process whereby this can be achieved has been proposed in the South East Waste Management Strategy.
Figure 2 of the executive summary of the Strategy is modified such that thermal treatment is not included. The figure illustrates that for every 100 tonnes of waste arisings, 51.6 tonnes will be disposed of. When applied to the total arisings of 109,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) this is equivalent to 56,250 tpa for disposal.
- Figure 2 (Word Document, 22 kbs)
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Area of Land Required
The waste management facility will comprise.
Waste reception including weighbridge, office and stores Civic amenity comprising receptacles for recyclable waste Composting Yard Construction and demolition (C&D) waste storage and Landfill.
The largest unit will be the landfill which, at 60,000 tonnes per annum over 20 years will require an area of 12.5ha approximately. The composting yard will cover approximately 1ha. Waste reception, civic amenity and ancillaries will utilise a further 1ha. The C&D waste storage areas will require approximately 1ha. In addition it is desirable that the landfill be surrounded by a buffer zone of approximately 100m width. Thus the total area required is approximately 30 to 40ha (75-100 acres).
Screening Process
The study commenced with constraint mapping that identified candidate regions within the county that might be suitable for landfill development. The screening process employed digital mapping and geographical information systems (GIS) to compare available physical, cultural and environmental datasets of the county against a set of criteria used in landfill site selection. Reference was made to previous studies available from Wexford County Council.
The screening process incorporated buffer zones ranging from 50 metres in radius around minor archaeological sites to an exclusion zone extending 5km from the coastline. Similarly, areas designated as proposed National Heritage Areas (NHAs) were removed from consideration.
Constraint analysis considered physical elements of the county and the practicality of transporting waste. To evaluate the existing road network, areas were considered favourable if they fell within 500m of any road and within 2km of a regional or higher class road. The level of physical constraint was enhanced dramatically by restricting candidate zones based on the aquifer potential of the county.
The EPA, DoELG and GSI have devised what is known as the Reponse Matrix for Landfills, a summary of which is given in Appendix 1. Based on the matrix, the area of interest excluded regionally important aquifers.
The quality of the data sets and the screening process employed were re-examined in the light of information given in the draft County Development Plan.
The above process resulted in the identification of areas suitable for consideration for the sitting of a waste management facility for County Wexford Figure 3.
