Data gaps hamper target-setting for waste strategy

The Government is expected shortly to unveil its proposed waste management strategy. Several new targets are under consideration by the Department of the Environment (DoE), but a lack of reliable data on waste generation and the environmental impacts caused by different methods of managing many waste streams is making it difficult to devise meaningful goals. Doubts also remain about the Government's capacity to ensure that new targets are met without additional policy initiatives - few of which are likely in the present deregulatory climate.