Statistics released by the Northern Ireland Executive yesterday (22 April) show that waste volumes climbed to 255,810 tonnes in this period, while its recycling rate dropped by 1.6% to 47.3%.
This led John Ahern, executive chairman of waste management company Indaver to say the data highlights the “urgent need for robust integrated waste management infrastructure to support a green recovery”. Indaver is behind a project hoping to build a £240 million energy from waste (EfW) facility in Mallusk, north Belfast.
Arisings
The data is the third consecutive set by the government to show a steady increase in waste arisings in 2020/21, with the previous quarter between July and September 2020 reporting a 5.3% rise in volumes.
During October to December 2020, 47.3% of waste collected by councils was sent for recycling, 1.6% lower than the recycling rate for October to December 2019.
The recycling rate for household only waste was 47.9%, down from 49.8%.
Disposal
Despite rising volumes, the landfill rate for waste collected by councils recorded a new low of 23.3% in Q4, a fall from 75.4% in October to December 2006 and from 24.1% during October to December 2019.
More than a quarter (26.4%) of waste arisings were sent for energy recovery in October to December 2020, compared to 23.8% in 2019, and 0.5% during the same quarter in 2009.
All figures are provisional until the final end-year validation has been completed. An annual report with fully validated figures for 2020/21 is scheduled for November 2021.
arc21
After the publication of the data, John Ahern, executive chairman of waste management company Indaver, warned that the data highlights the “urgent need for robust integrated waste management infrastructure to support a green recovery”.
Indaver is behind an EfW project with arc 21, the umbrella waste management group for six local authorities in the east of Northern Ireland hoping to build the Mallusk EfW plant.
According to Mr Ahern, the first three quarters of data for 2020/21 indicate that volumes for the year are likely to exceed 1 million tonnes once the final quarter data is included.
He explained: “These latest waste figures for the covid-19 period identify the scale of the problem but also point to the opportunity if we view our waste as a resource, just like the rest of Europe has been doing for years.
“The data provides further evidence that waste is on the increase here, which reinforces the urgent need to deliver more robust and integrated waste management infrastructure locally, especially to deal with our residual, largely non-recyclable waste.”
He added that while the Northern Irish Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) “rightly celebrates” the increase in EfW, it “doesn’t tell the whole story” as the majority of energy recovery is happening abroad, tightening the need for additional infrastructure.
Covid-19
Tim Walker, arc21’s acting chief executive, added: “Covid-19 and the impact of working and studying at home for prolonged periods has had some impact on recycling habits and where waste is being generated, but the underlying picture has remained the same.
“Northern Ireland still continues to produce too much waste, we send too much to landfill and too much for incineration overseas. COVID-19 has not changed those fundamental problems. If we want to build a resilient waste and resources management system and tackle carbon emissions from the waste sector, we need to invest in modern waste infrastructure fit for the Northern Irish economy of the 21st century”.
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