According to the plan, closer collaboration between the Department and local authorities – and also with industry bodies – as well as stronger Duty of Care provisions and enforcement provisions is needed as, the report claims it is ‘clear’ that there are “major problems in waste management in Northern Ireland”.
However, NI environment minister Mark Durkan also stressed at the launch of the plan that “the best way to reduce waste crime is to reduce the creation of waste in the first place”.
The ‘Managing and Regulating Waste in Northern Ireland – DOE Operational Plan’ was published on Tuesday, with Mr Durkan launching the report in Belfast to coincide with the inauguration of new CIWM president John Quinn at Stormont (see letsrecycle.com story).
The seven-page Plan is part of the Department’s drive to tackle waste crime in response to a report earlier this year which “highlighted systemic failures in the management and regulation of waste in Northern Ireland including significant criminal infiltration”, according to Mr Durkan.
Published last December, the independent Mills report – written by ex-Welsh Environment Agency director Chris Mills – highlighted NI’s vulnerability to widespread organised waste crime (see letsrecycle.com story).
Campsie
This came after the DOENI’s discovery of 516,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste in Mobuoy near Derry. Waste had been dumped over a number of years across an area almost 1.4km in and around a licensed materials recycling facility (MRF). The majority of waste was buried in sand and gravel pits originally excavated by Campsie Sand & Gravel Ltd.
Speaking at the launch of the Plan this week, Mr Durkan said: “The failures identified by the Mills report require a new radical and coordinated approach. A key part of this is for DOE to improve traditional methods of regulation and enforcement.
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“My position is clear, we need to use every mechanism available to tackle the serious problems identified. A narrow approach relying mainly on traditional crime fighting and tougher enforcement are indeed critical to creating a legitimate and successful waste sector in Northern Ireland.”
He added: “A prosperous Northern Ireland is one in which the current illegal disposal of waste is consigned to its own rubbish bin. I have published actions to improve our regulatory oversight of the waste sector. I will also ensure that my Environment Agency, NIEA uses its crime investigation and related powers to prevent and reduce serious waste crime.”
Prevention
The Plan follows the long-awaited publication of NI’s Waste Prevention Programme earlier this month (October 13) nine months after the EU deadline, which was delayed to “allow a fundamental and strategic review of waste issues” after the discovery of illegal waste and Campsie and the findings of the Mills report (see letsrecycle.com story).
The EU Waste Framework Directive requires each Member State to have had its own final waste prevention mandates published by a deadline of December 12 2013.
Related Links:
Managing and Regulating Waste in Northern Ireland – DOE Operational Plan
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