The Centre will provide the area with a much improved facility and its state of the art design and layout has been created to make a valuable contribution to the Council’s sustainable development credentials. There will be a training facility provided to educate local schoolchildren and community groups on important environmental issues.
The Minister praised the Council’s new facilities and congratulated it on the work it had done to achieve the second highest recycling rate of all 26 district council areas in Northern Ireland. She said: “I am keenly aware that Banbridge District is one of the highest recyclers in Northern Ireland and is well on the way to achieving the target set down by Government to divert household waste going to landfill by 2010 – however, this excellent progress needs to be replicated across Northern Ireland.”
The Minister added: “There has been significant progress on waste and recycling in Northern Ireland in recent years, but we must not be complacent – we need to continue to drive up performance for more sustainable waste management.”
Notes to Editors:
- Banbridge District Council area has achieved the second highest recycling rate of all 26 district council areas in Northern Ireland with 45.1% of total household waste arisings sent for recycling and composting in 2006/7.
- The facility will have a training room where local schoolchildren and community groups can be educated on important environmental issues. A number of features have been incorporated to minimise the site’s impact on the environment such as the use of solar and wind power, a woodchip boiler, rainwater harvesting and reed-bed technology to de-pollute wastewater discharges.
- The Department of the Environment part-funded this project under the Waste Management Grant Scheme.
- For media enquiries please contact DOE Press Office 028 9054 0014 or out of office hours, contact the EIS Duty Press Officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
