Leitrim County Council is committed to promoting responsible waste management in County Leitrim. In 2001 all local authorities in the province adopted the Connaught Waste Management Plan. The Plan provides a blueprint for waste management in Connaught and Leitrim County Council is fully committed to playing its part to ensure its successful implementation. Connaught Waste Management Plan Section 22 of the Waste Management Act, 1996 and the Waste Management Planning Regulations, 1997 oblige all local authorities in the country to establish and implement Waste Management Plans to promote responsible waste management.
These Waste Management Plans have to follow the hierarchical approach, which recommends waste reduction, recycling and energy recovery as preferred options to waste disposal. In 1998 the government published its waste policy document – Changing Our Ways – which set national recycling targets and recommended that local authorities adopt a regional approach, largely on grounds of cost effectiveness, when producing Waste Management Plans. As a result in the late 1990s Connaught's local authorities, namely Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim County Councils and Galway City Council, came together to produce the Connaught Waste Management Plan. The Plan relates to non-agricultural waste generated in the province, of which only 6% was been recycled at the time.
The Plan proposes that by 2013 we recycle 50%, thermally treat 30% and landfill 20% of our waste. In order to achieve these very ambitious targets it recommends a range of initiatives, including kerbside collection in many of our larger towns, expansion of bring-centre network, provision of a large number of civic amenity sites (staffed recycling centres), promotion of home composting and increased environmental awareness. In the case of Leitrim, the proposals of the Plan include a dramatic increase in the number of our bring-centres, four civic amenity sites, home composting schemes and an intensive environmental awareness-increasing programme.