THE public in the Isle of Man are being asked to come up with new ideas on how the Island's waste should be managed.
The Department of Infrastructure has launched a new consultation document to identify what the public feel the key issues surrounding waste management are.
At present the Isle of Man produces 200,000 tons of waste per year – which equates to nearly 2.5 tonnes for every resident. Of this waste 49 percent is recycles, 28 percent is treated and 23 percent is disposed to landfill.
Graham Cregeen MHK, Political Member with responsibility for waste, said: "Over the past 10 years the Island has moved away from land filling its waste and now almost half is recycled. Of the remainder just over a quarter is sent to the Energy from Waste Plant where electricity is recovered. The rest is land filled.
"Our aim over the next 20 years must be to continue to treat waste as a resource and ultimately aim to send zero waste to landfill - this consultation is the first part of this process."
The Waste: Have Your Say consultation asks the public to answer questions on waste prevention and reuse, energy recovery and disposal.
Jeff Robinson, director of operations for the Department of Infrastructure, said: "This is a long term strategy – the decisions we make coming out of this could affect us for the next 10 or 20 years.
"We haven't set out and said this is what we intend to do what do you think about it. We've deliberately tried to avoid that. We're not coming in here with any pre determined recipes and to find a reason not to listen to what you've got to say. We want to hear what everyone has to say.
"On that we will then build a policy to reflect the feedback we are getting from people to reflect how we should go forward."
The consultation document has been created by representatives from the Isle of Man Municipal Association, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, Isle Of Man Employers' Federation, Zero Waste Mann and Friends of the Earth (IOM).
Anyone who wishes to share their views can do so online by visiting www.waste.gov.im. Those who wish to give their views over the telephone can call 01624 686494.
The consultation period will run for six weeks.
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