The minister, speaking at the Confederation of Business Waste Management Seminar outside Belfast this evening, told businessmen that the development of a new waste infrastructure, the impact of legislation and the need to recycle, were big challenges facing the whole community, and that business had a key role to play in rising to meet them.
The Minister said that her department had set the framework for meeting the challenges through its Sustainable Development Strategy and its Waste Management Strategy. She also said that the £200million Strategic Waste Infrastructure Fund which had been allocated by the Executive to support local government in diverting waste from landfill, would help enable Northern Ireland comply with EU regulations and meet statutory targets.
The Minister added: “That fund will also create new construction, engineering and waste management jobs. In its broadest sense, waste infrastructure investment will help to make our lives better by protecting the environment. But it will also increase prosperity by adding a new dynamic to the economy.
“We need not, and should not, view the challenges ahead as something imposed upon us which we have to overcome. We should see them as an opportunity to lay foundations for a better environment and a more prosperous community. In this case at least, what is good for the community is also good for business.”
Notes to Editors:
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