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You are here: CIWM  >  Publications  >  Latest News  >  NI Household Recycling Rate Reaches 42 Percent

NI Household Recycling Rate Reaches 42 Percent

14 October 2011

The latest provisional Northern Ireland (NI) Municipal Waste Management Statistics for April - June 2011 were published this week showing that almost 42 percent of household waste was sent for recycling or composting during the first quarter of the year

The increase is almost two percentage points in comparison to the first quarter household recycling/composting rate achieved last year and an increase of just over 12 percentage points compared to April - June 2006 rate.

According to the report the amount of municipal waste generated during the first quarter of this year was around 257 kilotonnes, a decrease of 4 percent on the corresponding period in the previous year.

Seventeen percent of the annual allowance of biodegradable municipal waste that can be sent to landfill was used in the first quarter of the 2011/12 financial year; compared to 19 percent in the first quarter of 2010/11.

The report highlighted other key points:

Municipal Waste

Of all municipal waste collected in Northern Ireland, 88 percent was household waste and 12 percent was non-household waste.

The percentage of municipal waste sent for recycling and composting was 40 percent. This is a rise of almost three percentage points compared to the corresponding quarter in 2010.

The percentage of municipal waste sent to landfill was just over 57 percent; more than four percentage points lower than that for April to June 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 percent); the remaining 10 percent was accounted for by glass, electrical goods and cans.

Household Waste

Of all household waste collected, 20 percent was recycled and almost 22 percent was composted.

Household waste recycling/composting rates vary across the three waste management groups in Northern Ireland. SWaMP2008 achieved the highest rate, approaching 43 percent, followed by arc21at around 42 percent while the NWRWMG rate was just above 39 percent.

The percentage of household waste sent to landfill was just over 56 percent; a reduction of almost four percentage points on the April to June 2010 figure.

Whilst 126kg of household waste arisings was generated per person in Northern Ireland, the amount varies across the three waste management groups. NWRWMG had the highest household waste arisings per person at 130kg, followed by arc21 at 127kg, with SWaMP2008 producing the lowest per person amount at 122kg.

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 April to June 2011, a total of 79,057 tonnes of biodegradable waste were sent to landfill, which equates to 17 percent of the annual allocation. Within this, NWRWMG used almost 19 percent of their allocation, closely followed by arc21 at just under 18 percent for the year while SWaMP2008 used less than 15 percent of their allocation.

CLICK HERE for the full report

Darrel Moore