NI councils reach 43% quarterly recycling rate

In addition, the amount of municipal waste sent to landfill decreased for the period between July and September 2012 with 129,654 tonnes disposed of at sites across the country. This accounts for 52.3% of waste arising in the period – 3.2 percentage points less than the same period in 2011.

These were among the headline findings published by the DOE yesterday (January 24) in its report Northern Ireland local authority collected municipal waste management statistics: July September 2012.

The report shows there was little change in the amount of waste arising over the last year with 247,979 tonnes collected between July and September 2012 compared to 250,381 tonnes in the same period the year before a one percentage point difference.

The 43% of local authority collected municipal waste (LACMW) recycled or composted between July and September 2012 represents a 1.5 percentage point increase compared to the same period in 2011 when 41.5% of waste was recycled.

Compostable waste accounted for 51% of all waste collected for recycling and paper and card accounted for 17%. Other materials collected for recycling by councils included glass, metals, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), textiles and wood.

However, the DOE notes that waste collected for recycling may not always be sent to be processed because it has been contaminated with materials which make it too difficult to recycle.

‘Encouraging’

The improvement was welcomed by Northern Irelands Environment Minister Alex Atwood. He said: Once again I am encouraged by Councils and the majority of householders for their combined efforts in recycling as much of our waste as possible. It is especially heartening to see increases in the composting of biodegradable waste as, if landfilled, this has a high environmental impact. Furthermore, by cutting down on waste going to landfill Councils are not only reducing their environmental footprint but also landfill tax costs.

The minister added: “The recycling gains we have made in the last few years should give us confidence that we can make a difference to our shared environment. At the same time we need to ensure we continue to stretch ourselves which is one of the reasons behind my proposed statutory 60% municipal recycling target for 2020.”

Household waste

The data shows similar trends for household waste, with similar improvements in the amount of waste recycled and sent to landfill. Household waste in Northern Ireland accounts for 89% of LACMW.

The amount of household waste recycled in the second quarter of 2012/13 was 44.2% – a 1.5 percentage point improvement on the same period the year before. Meanwhile, just over 51% of all household waste was sent to landfill, an improvement on the rate of 54% during the same period in 2011.

Councils

Northern Ireland is split into three waste management groups arc21, North West Regional Waste Management Group (NWRWMG) and Southern Waste Management Partnership (SWAMP2008). Of the three, arc21 which represents 11 councils in the east of the country – had the highest percentage of waste landfilled in the quarter with 54.2% of municipal waste being disposed of at landfill. NWRWMG consisting of seven councils – landfilled 53.7% of municipal waste and SWAMP2008 47.2%.

SWAMP2008 which represents nine councils – had the highest overall recycling rate with 47.1%; arc21 came in second with 42.5% followed by NWRWMG which hit a 38.6%.

Looking at individual councils performance, Banbridge sent the most waste for recycling and composting in the second quarter of 2012/13 achieving a recycling rate of 61.1%. Magherafelt came in second place with a recycling rate of 60.3%, followed by Antrim with 56.2%. At the other end of the table, Derry was the lowest performer with a recycling rate of 26.9%.