The Northern Ireland association will provide support and advice to the waste management industry as it aims to meet the targets of the Northern Ireland waste strategy. It will give direct access to Northern Ireland governmental and regulatory bodies for ESA members and will provide a body that will address local issues.
The Waste Management Advisory Board for Northern Ireland has also been set up and will promote sustainable waste management throughout the country. The board will ensure that the waste management strategy is delivered inline with the region's economic, environmental and social make up.
Minister of the Environment, Mr Sam Foster launched the NIESA at Stormont and said how conservation of the environment through effective waste management practices is at the forefront of the Northern Ireland Executive policy agenda. “The board, together with NIESA, will be a valued source of assistance and advice when implementing our Waste Management Strategy and will help the industry raise environmental standards,” he said.
Mr Foster added: “I want to stress my department's commitments towards achieving fully sustainable waste management, as outlined in the waste management strategy for Northern Ireland…NIESA can help with this work by assembling and providing information on many of the issues affecting sustainable waste management. I applaud its commitment to an economically and environmentally sustainable waste management industry and to encouraging all of the key stakeholder groups to abandon the throwaway mentality that currently prevails in our society.”
Stephen Jenkinson, chairman of the ESA, said: “The challenging waste management strategy targets in Northern Ireland can be met only on the basis of effective partnership. NIESA has been established to help to enable the industry to play its part in this partnership and our members have a wide range of skills and experience which we are willing to place at the disposal f the authorities in Northern Ireland.”
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