NI minister outlines principles of HWRC reopenings

After the closure of HWRCs at the start of the outbreak, some have begun opening with strict measures in force. 

In Northern Ireland, Mid and East Antrim council announced earlier this month that it would be re-opening all four of its centres, and across the UK many are also beginning to open. 

Edwin Poots, the Northern Ireland environment minister, has now issued a set of five principles councils should consider, which includes the impact on the environment if waste isn’t managed properly and the preservation of material flows.  

Five principles

In addition to “the current principles, requirements and duties in waste, environmental and health protection legislation”,  the key principles are: 

• Protection of human health and the environment. Protect human health (including the workforce collecting and processing waste material) and the environment from the adverse consequences of waste not being managed effectively (in line with the scientific assessment of the risks and health advice on the approaches that support the controlling of the spread of COVID-19) 
• Social equity. Ensuring that proper account is taken of those needing support and those householders with limited storage capacity at their dwellings 
• Waste hierarchy. Manage waste in line with the waste hierarchy, in priority order: reduce, reuse, recycle, energy recovery, landfill, unless over-ridden by the need to protect human health and the environment 
• Resilience. Maintain the operation of a diverse range of facilities in order to provide resilience if key services are impacted or close down 
• Preservation of material flows. Ensure the flow of material to businesses that use recyclate, such as for food packaging, and derive energy from waste 

  

 Letter

The minister has written to the chief executives of each of the 11 councils, NIGLA and Arc21, with five key principles to help them decide on any changes to waste services in a response to the Covid-19 emergency.

Minister Poots said: “Waste and recycling services are critical public services and should be maintained as far as possible in order to protect the health of the Northern Ireland public from a build-up of waste; safeguard the important flow of materials, such as for food packaging; and deliver a low carbon circular economy agenda.

“With this in mind, I have now written to the councils, NIGLA and Arc21, with a set of principles that they can apply when considering if it’s safe to re-open their household recycling facilities.”