Northern Ireland’s recycling rate has continued to edge up in 2015, and now stands at 41.4 per cent, according to new data, compared to the 40.6 per cent achieved last year.

The rate, outlined in the ‘NI Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste Management Statistics 2014-15 annual report’, published today (26 November), means that the country has not reached the 45 per cent target set for 2015 in the Northern Ireland Executive’s Programme for Government in 2012. The programme also set out targets of 50 per cent by 2020 and 60 per cent by 2020.

The increase in recycling rate was predominantly down to composting, which reached a record high of 170,878 tonnes, while the dry recycling rate actually dropped from 23.7 per cent last year to 23.3 per cent, despite also increasing in volume to 222,084 tonnes.

Despite the slow progression of recycling, reuse and composting improvement, the annual report highlights that the amount of local authority (LA) collected municipal waste going to landfill had decreased by 5.2 percentage points to 43.4 per cent in the last year. Over the past decade, the landfill rate has dropped sharply from 74 per cent in 2006/07.

The discrepancy between the two rates is made up by the growth of energy recovery in the country in recent years, with the amount of LA waste material being sent to energy-from-waste facilities increasing by 4.8 percentage points in 2014/15 to 14.9 per cent.

Details

Northern Ireland’s 26 district councils are divided into three waste management groups. The largest, arc21, comprises of 11 councils, including Belfast, and makes up 53 per cent of the country’s population. The Southern Waste Management Partnership (SWMP) is second largest with eight councils and 28 per cent of the population, while the North West Regional Waste Management Group (NWRWMG) has seven councils and 18 per cent of the population.

Between them, the LAs collected 951,432 tonnes of LA municipal waste during 2014/15, a 2.9 per cent increase on the 924,412 tonnes collected in the previous year.

Newry and Mourne and Fermanagh district councils generated the smallest quantities of household waste per person with 391 kilogramme (kg) and 396 kg per person respectively. The largest household waste generation was recorded by Antrim Borough Council (571kg per person).

In total, 393,740 tonnes of this municipal waste was sent for reuse, dry recycling and composting in 2014/15, a rate of 41.4 per cent. Waste sent for reuse, included in the data for the first time this year, made up 778 tonnes of this, and added 0.1 to the overall rate.

The SWMP had the highest recycling rate (43.4 per cent), with arc21 second (41.5 per cent) and NWEWMG last (38.3 per cent).

Banbridge, which trialled four-weekly residual waste collection last year, recorded the highest recycling rate of any individual LA – 60.6 per cent, up 2.6 percentage points from its 58.0 per cent rate in 2014. Strabane District Council had the lowest rate at 28.5 per cent, down slightly from its 2014 rate of 28.9 per cent.

Banbridge also had the lowest LA landfill rate in 2014/15, sending just 7.2 per cent to landfill compared to a national average of 43.4 per cent. Banbridge’s figure represents a huge 23.0 percentage point drop from 30.1 per cent last year.

Diversion from landfill paying economic dividends for taxpayers

Commenting on the results, Minster for the Environment Mark H Durkan said: “We have come a long way in the last 10 years as the drop in landfilling shows. More and more people recognise the value of our waste both as a resource to be conserved and, if that’s not possible, as an energy source. Paying landfill charges to not use these useful materials just doesn’t make sense.

“I make no excuse for reminding us all that this year our councils have saved £2.9 million in tax alone by diverting an additional 36,235 tonnes of waste from landfill. Continuing the move towards zero waste, where waste is treated as a valuable resource, will increasingly pay economic dividends for local ratepayers and the community and also sends a message that our society recognises the need to be sustainable for future generations.

“In this the European Week for Waste Reduction, please consider what more you can do to use your resources more efficiently. Visiting the NI Love Food Hate Waste website for new ideas on reducing food waste is a great start.”

The full ‘Northern Ireland Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste Management Statistics Annual Report 2014/15’ is available at the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland’s website.