Further reduction in the amount of council waste sent to landfill
The provisional Northern Ireland Municipal Waste Management Statistics, July - September 2011, published today shows that almost 56% of municipal waste was sent to landfill during the second quarter of the year.
~ Thursday, 19 January 2012
This is an improvement of almost four percentage points compared to the second quarter last year; and represents an overall improvement in excess of 16 percentage points compared to the July - September 2006 rate, when the current Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy was published.
Around a third of the annual allowance of biodegradable municipal waste that can be sent to landfill was used in the first half of the 2011/12 financial year; again improving on the 37% used in the first half of 2010/11.
The amount of municipal waste generated during the second quarter of this year was around 250 kilotonnes, a decrease of just over 4% on the corresponding period in the previous year.
The report further shows that almost 43% of household waste was sent for recycling or composting during the second quarter of the year. This is an increase of almost one percentage point compared to the second quarter household recycling/composting rate achieved last year.
Key points for the quarter July to September 2011 are:
Municipal Waste
· A total of 250,324 tonnes of municipal waste were collected in Northern Ireland, a decrease of just over 4% on the corresponding period in the previous year. Of all municipal waste collected in Northern Ireland, 88% was household waste and 12% was non-household waste.
· Almost 56% of municipal waste was sent to landfill during the second quarter of the year. This is an improvement of almost four percentage points compared to the second quarter last year; and represents an overall improvement in excess of 16 percentage points compared to the July - September 2006 rate, when the current Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy was published.
· The percentage of municipal waste sent for recycling and composting was just under 42%. This is a rise of almost two percentage points compared to the corresponding quarter in 2010.
· Green waste accounted for almost half of the municipal waste collected for recycling, which was more than the proportion accounted for by paper and other recycled waste combined (41%). The remaining 10% was accounted for by glass, electrical goods and cans.
Household Waste
· Almost 43% of household waste sent for recycling and composting, an increase of almost one percentage point compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Of all household waste collected, almost 21% was recycled and 22% was composted.
· Household waste recycling/composting rates vary across the three waste management groups in Northern Ireland. SWaMP2008 achieved the highest rate, just over 46%, followed by arc21 at around 42% and NWRWMG rate was just over 40%.
· The percentage of household waste sent to landfill was just over 54%; a reduction of almost three percentage points on the July to September 2010 figure.
· Whilst 123 kg of household waste arisings was generated per person in Northern Ireland, the amount varies across the three waste management groups. arc21 and NWRWMG had the highest household waste arisings per person at 125kg, with SWaMP2008 producing the lowest amount per person at 116kg.
Biodegradable Waste
· Northern Ireland has an allocation of 465,950 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste that can be sent to landfill in 2011/12.
· In the period July to September 2011, a total of 74,268 tonnes of biodegradable waste were sent to landfill, which equates to almost 16% of the annual allocation.
· Around a third of the annual allowance of biodegradable municipal waste that can be sent to landfill was used in the first half of the 2011/12 financial year; again improving on the 37% used in the first half of 2010/11.
· NWRWMG used just over 36% of their allocation, closely followed by arc21 at just under 35% for the year while SWaMP2008 used just less than 28% of their allocation.
Notes to editors:
- This is the tenth Northern Ireland Municipal Waste Management Statistics Report, and the second for the 2011/12 financial year, and will be updated quarterly. Note that all figures are provisional until the final end-year validation has been completed.
- There are nine indicators covered in the report, covering municipal waste, household waste, and biodegradable municipal waste. The indicators have been calculated from the WasteDataFlow (WDF) system, which is used by all UK local authorities to report municipal waste.
- Northern Ireland is split into three waste management groups:
· arc21 - Antrim, Ards, Ballymena, Belfast, Castlereagh, Carrickfergus, Down, Larne, Lisburn, Newtownabbey, North Down
· North West Regional Waste Management Group (NWRWMG) - Ballymoney, Coleraine, Derry, Limavady, Magherafelt, Moyle, Strabane
· Southern Waste Management Partnership (SWaMP2008) - Armagh, Banbridge, Cookstown, Craigavon, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Newry, Omagh - Municipal waste in this report refers to district council collected waste. Following discussions with the European Commission relating to the amount of biodegradable municipal waste diverted from landfill, the UK has agreed to revise its interpretation of municipal waste. This will mean that much more commercial and industrial waste than previously will fall within the scope of the term 'municipal waste'. The revised interpretation of municipal waste does not affect this latest quarterly report. The User Information section within this report has further details on the redefinition of municipal waste.
- Electronic copies of the ‘Northern Ireland Municipal Waste Management Statistics Report’ are available at the Statistical Publications and Municipal Data Reporting sections of the DOE website.
Should this format not be suitable for your needs, hard copies are available free of charge from:
Analytical Services Branch, Room 4.10, Clarence Court , 10 - 18 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8GB
Telephone: (028) 9054 0245 E-mail:asb@doeni.gov.uk Website: www.doeni.gov.uk - For media queries please contact DOE Press Office on 028 9025 6058. Out of office hours, contact the EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
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