The data for the October to December 2016 period by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), indicates that councils collected 228,631 tonnes of municipal waste during the three-month period. This represents a 0.6% decrease on the 230,089 tonnes collected during the same three months of 2015.
Newry, Mourne & Down council generated the smallest quantity of household waste per person at 97kg, whilst the largest quantity per person was recorded in Antrim & Newtownabbey at 129kg.
Despite this decrease in collected waste, the household waste prepared for reuse, dry recycling and composting was 42.1% between October and December 2016, an increase on the 40.1% recorded 12 months earlier. The report found that at council level, rates varied from 37.1% in Belfast to 49.9% in Mid Ulster.
Landfill
As well as an increase in waste sent for recycling, the report suggests that the quarterly landfill rate for household waste had decreased to 38% from the 40.1% recorded the previous year. There were 51,090 tonnes of municipal waste sent to landfill which was 7.2% lower than the 55,079 tonnes sent between the same three months of 2015, DAERA reported.
According to the report, the LAC municipal waste energy recovery rate was 19.7%, similar to the 19.3% recorded in 2015. The highest rate was recorded in Newry, Mourne & Down at 52.9% and the lowest was 2.6% in Fermanagh & Omagh.
The quarterly statistics are released in October, January, April and July each year. They report provisional figures on the key measurements of LAC municipal waste for councils and waste management groups in Northern Ireland.
Register for free to comment