NI seeks to ban food waste from landfill by 2015

Introductory measures for a landfill ban on source segregated food waste in Northern Ireland have been laid out in a consultation by the Department of the Environment (DoE).

The consultation, which sets out the policy drivers behind the proposal to restrict separately collected food waste from entering landfill, aims to drive material up the waste hierarchy and also identify the practical issues arising from move, such as a need for alternative infrastructure.

The proposal was first raised in late October 2012, when DoE announced it would consult on legislation to ban food waste from landfill in a little publicised draft document entitled Delivering Resource Efficiency (see letsrecycle.com story).

The proposed regulatory measures outlined include:

require food waste producers to present food waste for separate collection;
introduce an obligation on District Councils to provide receptacles for the separate collection of food waste from households;
introduce a ban on the landfilling of separately collected food waste; and,
introduce a ban on the non-domestic discharge of food waste into the public sewer network

As part of the consultation, respondents have been asked to comment on a range of issues relating to the proposed ban, including whether district councils should have a duty to provide a receptacle to householders for the separate collection of food waste and whether statutory requirements should be to present food waste separately for collection. The consultation also asks how stakeholders believe a ban should be enforced.

Timeline

Under the proposed timeline, a ban on landfilling and mixing source segregated food waste would be rolled out on April 1 2015.

A separate collection for large and medium businesses would be implemented a year later, to be followed by small producers (5-50kg of food waste per week) and hospitals in April 2017. The ban on non-domestic discharge of food waste into the public sewer network would also be rolled out at this time.

Alternative methods for food waste disposal, the DoE document speculates, will be in-vessel composting (IVC) and anaerobic digestion (AD), two options already used in Northern Ireland.

Confidence

However, a feasibility study by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) indicates while there are a number of investors willing to invest in AD, uncertainty surrounding feedstock supply remains a concern for developers outside municipal waste contracting. It is hoped an enforced policy on segregated food waste would bring greater market confidence.

The consultation, which will close on December 3 this year, precedes the publication of the Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy, which has been developed in adherence to the European Union Environmental Directives.