Fermanagh district Council is hopeful of getting a decision on their future landfill plans by the end of this year, the chief executive, Mr. Rodney Connor, has said.

He was responding to a query from a councillor at the monthly meeting as to hoe the Council had approached meeting the targets set by the Waste Management Plan, officially launched on Monday of last week by the Minister with responsibility for the DOE, Angela Smith.

Under the plan, the 26 councils have been divided into three regional groups who have produced individual plans to respond to their own particular needs.

Fermanagh is part of SWAMP, the Southern Waste Management Partnership which also includes Omagh, Strabane, Dungannon and Armagh councils.

The plans from around Northern Ireland include the provision of kerbside collections for segregated waste using colour-coded bins, just one of the initiatives introduced to ensure Northern Ireland meets the EU target of recycling 25 per cent of waste by the year 2005.

However, the DOE say that with waste continuing to grow at the rate of four per cent a year, those targets would be difficult to achieve.

Councillor Stephen Huggett said he had heard comments from a spokesman from the friends of the Earth who said it would be impossible to meet the 25 per cent target and which might result in the installation of incinerators.