John Daly has been appointed as general manager of Dublin Waste to Energy, which is the company in charge of a €500m public private partnership (PPP) project to build a waste-to-energy facility in Poolbeg, Dublin.

Work started on the 600,000 tonne facility late last year and operations are targeted for late 2017.

When complete, the facility will generate clean energy to supply 80,000 homes, reducing Ireland’s reliance on imported fossil fuel, and has also been designed with technology and infrastructure to provide enough heat to meet the equivalent needs of over 50,000 homes.

Dublin Waste to Energy is owned by US sustainable waste and energy solutions provider Covanta and the PPP is with Dublin City Council.

Daly moves to Covanta from Bord na Mona, where he was head of its resource recovery unit since 2013, responsible for overseeing the commercial and domestic waste management business across seven sites in the Republic of Ireland.

He previously held positions with Kingspan Environmental & Renewables as divisional operations director, Onyx Ireland (Veolia Group) as managing director. He has also served as deputy chairman of the Irish Waste Management Association.

“This is a landmark development in state-of-the-art waste management for the Dublin region, and for Ireland,” said Daly.

“The project will deliver a long-term sustainable waste management solution which will divert post-recycled waste from landfills, generate renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gases, all while providing a meaningful boost to the economy.”

He also stressed the importance of developing positive relations with the local community in the Sandymount, Ringsend and Irishtown areas, and said he would work steadfastly to maintain an accountable and transparent relationship with local residents and other stakeholders.