The funding will allow the extension of Derry’s food waste recycling scheme to include the remaining households in the council area, as well as 33 schools, 20 charities, 35 businesses and 33 council locations.
The grant has been awarded to Derry city council as part of the Department for Environment’s Rethink Waste Fund, which supports the Food Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015.
The legislation, which comes into effect from April 2015, will impose a ban on separately collected food waste to landfill and make food waste recycling compulsory for Northern Ireland businesses from April 2017.
Food businesses will have to keep their food waste separate from other waste and make sure that their waste contractors collect and transport the food waste separately. The waste will then be sent to in-vessel composting or anaerobic digestion plants for composting.
Regulations
Commenting on the regulations, Mr Durkan said: “We all know it makes sense to cut down on food waste and how we dispose of it. It is important that we all play our part. By sending food waste to landfill we are wasting money, resources and an opportunity to support the green economy and reduce carbon emissions.
“Making the effort to separate out our food waste and disposing of it separately will encourage us all to produce less waste in the first place. This is good news for the environment, the economy and importantly our pockets.
“I have introduced legislation that will require all our councils to collect and transport our food waste separately by 1 April 2017. With this grant and the work already completed, Derry city council is on course to meet the requirements and importantly moving towards our shared aspiration of a zero waste society.”
Welcoming the announcement of the grant Mayor of Derry, councillor Brenda Stevenson, added: “I am delighted that Derry city council has been awarded such a significant amount towards our food waste collection service.
“The extension of the scheme will have a significant impact in terms of providing a consistent waste collection service across the council district and increasing the diversion of food waste from landfill. This funding will allow council to progress further towards meeting its waste reduction targets, and reaffirms our commitment to improving the quality of our local environment.”
Around 150,000 tonnes of food waste is sent to landfill every year in Northern Ireland, of which around 118,000 tonnes is derived from households.
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