Publication of provincial Northern Ireland municipal waste management statistics

The latest edition of the Northern Ireland Municipal Waste Management Statistics, containing statistics for January to March 2010, is now available. The report contains summary information on nine key measurements on municipal waste collection in Northern Ireland, with more detailed district council information available in Excel appendices. The quarterly figures are based on provisional data and may change when a final validation is conducted at the end of the year.

The key points for the quarter January to March 2010 are:

Municipal Waste

• A total of 227,514 tonnes of municipal waste were collected in Northern Ireland, with 88% household waste and 12% non-household waste.
• The percentage of the municipal waste sent for recycling and composting was 29%. This is largely unchanged compared to the corresponding quarter in 2009.
• The percentage of municipal waste sent to landfill was 70%. The proportion sent to landfill for this quarter was one percentage point lower compared to that for January to March 2009.
• Of the municipal waste collected for recycling, paper accounted for one-third (33%), while the proportion accounted for by green waste was 27%. Eleven per cent was accounted for by glass and cans.

Household Waste

• Of all household waste collected, just over 22% was recycled and just over 8% was composted. The overall proportion of household waste sent for recycling and composting (31%) is roughly the same as the corresponding quarter in 2009.
• The percentage of household waste sent to landfill was just over 68%. This is a reduction of just over one percentage point on the January to March 2009 figure.
• There were 113 kilogrammes of household waste collected per head of population in Northern Ireland in this quarter (equivalent of approximately 9kg per person per week), of which 35 kilogrammes was recycled or composted.

Biodegradable Waste

• Northern Ireland has an allocation of 470,000 tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste that can be sent to landfill in 2009/10. In the period January to March 2010, a total of 96,869 tonnes of biodegradable waste were sent to landfill, which equates to 21% of the annual allocation.

Notes to editors

1. This is the fourth Northern Ireland Municipal Waste Management Statistics Report, and will be updated quarterly. Note that all figures are provisional until the final end-year validation has been completed.
2. 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.
3. Electronic copies of the ‘Northern Ireland Municipal Waste Management Statistics Report’ are available  Should this format not be suitable for your needs hard copies are available free of charge from: Central Statistics and Research Branch, Clarence Court, 10-18 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8GB, tel: 028 9054 0916, e-mail: csrb@drdni.gov.uk.
4. All media enquiries should be directed to the DOE Press Office on 028 9054 0003. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.