Northern Irish councils hit 18.9% recycling rate

The achievement was made during the period 2004/05, with individual recycling rates among the districts and boroughs ranging from 39.2% down to 8.9%.

” There is a very strong culture of desire to recycle and protect the environment within the district.“
– Ken Forbes, Banbridge DC
Parliamentary Under Secretary for Northern Ireland, Angela E Smith, revealed the results in answer to a written question put by Belfast East MP Peter Robinson.

Banbridge
Banbridge district council was named as the top council in Northern Ireland when it comes to recycling household waste, achieving a 39.2% rate.

The council's director of environment, Ken Forbes, praised the dedication of householders in using both household recycling centres and kerbside collection services for the achievement.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Forbes said: “There is a very strong culture of desire to recycle and protect the environment within the district. From the early 1990s we have seen a strong use of civic amenity sites – now called household recycling centres. This was coupled with ten years of giving talks to voluntary groups and schools.

“We have built on this environmental awareness, with our commitment over the last four to five years leading to 80% of households being issued with second bins for garden and kitchen waste,” he explained.

Growing
The council, which currently services about 16,500 households but has one of the fastest-growing populations in Northern Ireland, aims to provide the remaining 20% of the district with organics recycling bins this year.

Banbridge, which forms part of the Southern Waste Management Partnership of Northern Irish councils, also provides kerbside recycling collections for dry recyclables. Using black boxes, these collections are run by Bryson House Recycling. With weekly recycling collections, Banbridge residents have their non-recyclable waste picked up fortnightly.

Other councils that have achieved particularly high recycling rates in Northern Ireland include Antrim borough council (38.4%), Magherafelt district council (31.4%) and Limavady borough council (27%).

Only one council – Belfast city – achieved a single-figure recycling rate in 2004/05, but the city council said since the figures were compiled, new recycling services have pushed the rate up closer to 18%.

The council's three-bin collection scheme, currently provided to 33,000 households, is to be rolled out to a further 33,000 households early in 2006.

Councils have no statutory recycling targets in Northern Ireland, but since all districts and boroughs have disposal as well as collection responsibilities, they must meet Landfill Allowance targets each year.

Full 2004/05 household recycling rates for Northern Ireland were as follows: