IRISH WASTE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2024

Implementing the Circular Economy – Are We on Track?

Thursday, March 14th 2024
Aviva Stadium Conference Centre, Dublin 4

Conference Agenda
9:00 Morning Session Chaired by Des Crinion Chairperson, IWMA

9:05 OPENING ADDRESS ADDRESS

Progressing Ireland’s Waste Policy in our Evolving Circular Economy.

Philip Nugent, Assistant Secretary, leading the Natural Resources and Waste Policy function at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment

9:25 Economic assessment: Re-municipalisation of household waste management in Ireland

Russell Smyth, Partner, KPMG

9:45 Separate Collection of Food Waste Findings from the DECC funded 2 year Project

Pauline McDonogh, Senior Executive Scientist/Southern Region Waste Management Office/Limerick

10:05 Monitoring and Implementing the Change to a Circular Economy

  • Addressing the challenge of waste generation
  • What the latest data is showing in terms of progress towards future targets?
  • Supporting Industry’s Commitment to Reducing Food Waste
  • Progess on the National Hazardous Waste Plan
  • Regulating to support Circular Economy transition in Industry.
  • Licensing national waste capacity

Warren Phelan, Programme Manager, Circular Economy Programme, EPA

10:25 Q&A 1: Are we Evolving Quick Enough to meet the Challenges?

  • Philip Nugent, Assistant Secretary, leading the Natural Resources and Waste Policy function at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment
  • Pauline McDonogh, Senior Executive Scientist/Southern Region Waste Management Office/Limerick
  • Russell Smyth, Partner, KPMG

  • Warren Phelan, Programme Manager, Circular Economy Programme, EPA

10:40 Morning Coffee Break, Exhibition Viewing and Networking

11:10 Legal updates on all that has happened in the waste area, both Irish and European, over the last year

Alison Fanagan SC will provide her usual insightful update on key Irish and EU waste legislation and case law, with a particular focus on the Circular Economy. In particular she will talk about:

  • Case studies and real world examples to illustrate how those developments are affecting those in the waste sector
  • Developments in key areas such as by products and “end of waste”

Alison Fanagan, Co-head of A&L Goodbody Solicitors Environment & Planning Group

11:30 Coca-Cola’s Journey to a World without Waste on the island of Ireland
Tom Burke, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director, Coca Cola Ireland

11:50 Tom Gaynor, Head of Operations, Recycling & Recovery, Repak

INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER
12:10 This Is What We Do’ – Showcasing World-Class Resource & Waste Management, and Circular Economy Pathfinders

  • Update and overview of Dan’s CIWM President’s Report 2023/24, outlining the importance of showcasing excellence in our sector, and telling our stories in new and engaging formats to help build the profile of our services
  • The vital contribution that we can make to carbon reduction, greater resource efficiency and a more circular economy

Dan Cooke, President, CIWM

12:30 Q&A 2 – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle & the Circular Economy

  • Alison Fanagan, Co-head of A&L Goodbody Solicitors Environment & Planning Group
  • Dan Cooke, Senior Vice President, CIWM
  • Tom Burke, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director, Coca Cola Ireland
  • Tom Gaynor, Head of Operations, Recycling & Recovery, Repak

12:50 Lunch, Exhibition Viewing and Networking (Sponsored by A&L Goodbody)

2:00 Afternoon Session Chaired by Enda Kiernan, Chairman, CIWM Republic of Ireland

2:05 KEYNOTE SPEAKER

How to scale up circular business models – the role of circular design, smart take-back & secondary raw material markets

  • Key Drivers of Circular Design – CSRD, ESPR and DPP
  • The role of Smart Take-Back Schemes & Advanced Technology
  • Building secondary raw material markets – economies of scale, volume/frequency and access to high quality materials

Dr Geraldine Brennan, Head of Circular Economy at Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and Lead of CIRCULÉIRE

2:25 How AI can Transform the Resources and Recycling Ind

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the resource and recycling industry by driving better outcomes in areas such as productivity, safety, sustainability, service, and cost savings.
  • Latest developments in AI and how they are being adopted across the resource value chain, including collections, sorting, and administration productivity.
  • International use cases as well as potential applications in the Irish market.

Ken Tierney, Senior Product Manager, The AMCS Group

2:45 Initial Report on IWMA Waste Reclassification Project

  • The IWMA established a Task Force to assist with the achievement of the recycling targets for Municipal Waste which comes into force in 2025.
  • One of the immediate concerns of the Task Force was the existence of inaccuracies in the classification and recording of waste types, primarily bulky wastes collected in skips.
  • Any misclassification would feed into the national statistics and distort national waste recycling figures.
  • The Task Force was concerned that the majority of such bulky waste was recorded as Municipal Waste when, in fact, it should more accurately be recorded asConstruction and Demolition Waste.
  • Given that the EPA reports that in 2021, Ireland generated some 3.17 million tonnes of municipal waste, of which bulky municipal waste constituted some 647,000 tonnes, i.e., some 20%, although not all of it is collected in skips.]
  • Therefore, any significant misclassification of bulky waste could impact on both the national quantities of municipal waste arising and the recycling rate of municipal waste.

Dr Ted Nealon, Director Nealon Environmental Services Ltd.

LOCKNOTE PRESENTATION
3:05 Updates on Recent IWMA Research

  • Benchmarking Ireland’s MSW Recycling Performance
  • Life Cycle Assessment of Roll Out of Brown Bins to Rural Areas
  • Planning Timelines for Waste Facilities
  • Waste Treatment Capacity in Ireland

Conor Walsh, Secretary, IWMA

3:30 Q&A 3: How do we engage the public in meeting our Recycling needs and Circular Economy challenges?

  • Dr Geraldine Brennan, Head of Circular Economy at Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and Lead of CIRCULÉIRE
  • Ken Tierney, Senior Product Manager, The AMCS Group
  • Dr Ted Nealon, Director Nealon Environmental Services Ltd.
  • Conor Walsh, Secretary, IWMA

3:50 Conference Ends

 

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