Northern Ireland draws EfW link to stalling recycling

Figures published for July to September 2014 by the Department of the Environment yesterday (January 22) show that for the first time since 2009/10, Northern Ireland’s household dry recycling and composting rate has failed to show any quarter on quarter increase, remaining at 45.6%.The figure is the same as that posted in July to September 2013.

Of all household waste collected 21.0% was recycled and 24.6% was composted. A recycling rate of 45.2% was recorded during the previous quarter, April to July 2014.

The stagnant performance in recycling comes despite an overall drop in the tonnage of waste sent to landfill. The total tonnage of household waste sent to landfill for this quarter was 88,511 tonnes down 13.9% compared with the same period a year earlier (102,854 tonnes). This means that 39.9% of Northern Ireland’s household waste was sent to landfill across the quarter.

According to the Department for Environment, the reduction in landfill – by around 6.9% points – has been largely achieved through an increasing proportion of waste being diverted for energy recovery, with much of that material being used in the production of refuse derived fuel (RDF).

Energy

In recent years, demand for RDF for export to Europe has seen a huge increase. It is expected that exports of the material from across the UK may have reached around 2.4 million tonnes in 2014, more than 1 million tonnes greater than during the previous year.

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While the Northern Ireland Executive has welcomed the reduction in landfill, it has conceded that ‘ultimately resources that could be recycled are still going up in smoke’.

Commenting on the figures Minister Durkan said: “Whilst it is good to see that the North has maintained its household recycling rate, the slowdown in its increase does concern me. I also note that councils are now recycling more metal and glass through kerbside collections.

“I would ask all householders to check with their local council to see exactly what materials they can recycle at the kerbside – the range is increasing all the time. Recycling saves local councils the cost of landfilling, so every small action taken by a household to recycle is contributing to the local community.”