The annual local authority statistics report is published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and measures the household waste collected councils.
This is the first annual report to include data from a period when measures and advice were implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Landfill
The quantity of waste sent to landfill also decreased by 2.2% in 2020/21, from 240,220 tonnes in 2019/21, to 234,956 tonnes.
This gave a landfill rate of 22.8% for 2020/21, 1.3% points lower than the 24.0% recorded in 2019/20 and the “lowest ever recorded”.
Volumes
Northern Ireland’s household waste volumes increased by 3.2% in 2020/21. The report shows that Northern Ireland councils collected 1,031,169 tonnes of waste during 2020/21.
DAERA reported that the pandemic was a main factor for the change in waste arisings. This was because of changing household behaviours, the state of the economy and service disruptions.
Belfast city council had the greatest waste arisings in 2020/21 with 171,795 tonnes, which accounted for 17% of the total council waste arisings.
Fermanagh & Omagh district council had the lowest arisings in 2020/21 with 58,108 tonnes collected.
Ards & North Down council reported the largest increase in their waste arisings compared with last year, increasing by 8.1%. Mid Ulster council also reported increased waste arisings compared with last year by 8%.
DAERA reported that there was only one council, Antrim & Newtownabbey, where a decrease in waste arisings was recorded, which saw a fall of 6.6%.
A 24% fall in waste collected at civic amenity sites in the council area was the main reason for this decrease.
Energy
According to the report, 253,180 tonnes of waste arisings were sent for energy recovery in 2020/21.
This gave an energy recovery rate of 24.6%, higher than the 22.1% recorded in 2019/20. DAERA added that in each year, the majority of waste was mixed residual waste with a smaller proportion from specific streams.
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Commenting on the statistics John Ahern, business development director at Indaver UK and Ireland, once again urged the need for the £240 million Energy from Waste facility , proposed for Hightown Quarry on the outskirts of Belfast.
Indaver, which is developing the project, has urged the need for the facility before, stating that Northern Ireland faces a “waste crisis”.
Mr Ahern said: “These latest Council waste figures show that NI has breached 1 million tonnes of waste arisings, highlighting the scale of the challenge we all face. The data reinforces the need to deliver additional robust and integrated waste management infrastructure locally, especially to deal with our residual, non-recyclable waste.
“If we don’t, we risk stumbling into a waste crisis of our own making. The importance of ending waste to landfill was emphasised as part of the recent COP26 pledge to tackle harmful methane emissions as a means of tackling global warming in the shorter term.”
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