TOBIN is a consultancy recognized within Ireland for its knowledge and expertise of the waste management sector.
In July 2008, as part of an International Project Team, TOBIN Consulting Engineers were appointed by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to carry out an International Review of Waste Management Policy in Ireland, as well as to make recommendations on policy changes, which the Government subsequently considered in preparing its Policy Statement.
The Project Team consisted of TOBIN Consulting Engineers, Arcadis (Belgium), Scuola Agraria del Parco di Monza (SAPDM) (Italy), the Oko Institut (Germany), TBU (Austria) and Eunomia (New Zealand), all of whom are experts in the fields of waste management, in their respective countries.
The aim of the study was to identify possible changes to waste policy at national level, in order to assist Ireland to move towards a sustainable resource and waste policy, including minimizing the creation of waste and achieving self-sufficiency in the reuse and recycling of materials. Together, the Project Team worked to examine the legal, institutional and organisational arrangements currently in place in Ireland, and it analysed potential changes which could assist in achieving Ireland’s waste policy goals and in meeting national and international waste management obligations.
The study helped identify how best to proceed with further efforts to reduce waste loads, improve recycling rates and deliver equitable and cost effective sustainable waste management solutions.
The final report was published in November 2009.
Subsequently, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government prepared a new draft Statement of Waste Policy, in July 2010, arising from the recommendations of this report. The statement is designed to set a policy context which will ensure that waste management services are delivered by the public and private sectors in an environmentally progressive and cost efficient manner.
