Statistics released by the Northern Irish government have shown that the volume of municipal waste collected in the country fell by 10.8% between April and June 2020, compared with the same period last year.
The provisional quarterly statistics published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) also show that 52.9% of waste collected by councils was sent for recycling, 1.3% lower than the recycling rate for April to June 2019.
Municipal waste sent for recycling and landfill fell, but energy recovery rose between April-June 2020
The DAERA statistical report is updated quarterly and contains information on measurements of local authority collected municipal waste for councils in Northern Ireland.
It is also the first report covering the period when measures were introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, DAERA says.
Volume
The report showed that Northern Ireland’s local authorities collected 236,560 tonnes of waste during the April to June period, which was 10.8% lower than the 265,181 recorded in the same three months of 2019.
DAERA said that while there was an increase in the tonnage of waste collected at the kerbside, the 63% reduction in waste collected at household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) outweighed this, resulting in an overall decrease in waste arisings.
Belfast reported the highest amount of municipal waste with 40,865 tonnes, while Fermanagh and Omagh collected the least with 12,602.
DAERA said: “The extra waste collected at kerbside and bring sites is a consequence of people spending more time at home due to Covid-19 restrictions including lockdown, for example, working from home, closure of schools, bars and restaurants. As civic amenity sites were closed many will have utilised their kerbside collection more fully.
“All councils recorded a decrease in total arisings in April to June 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, with the largest decrease recorded in Antrim and Newtownabbey at 33.2%.”
Recycling
The closure of HWRCs resulted in an overall drop in the quantity of materials collected for recycling, the report said.
“The proportion of household waste sent for dry recycling made up 22%, composting 32.3% and preparing for reuse less than 0.1%. Last year the equivalent rate for reuse was 0.1%, whilst the dry recycling and composting rates were 23% and 32% respectively.”
A graph to show recycling rates recorded from 2006 to 2020
Landfill
DAERA recorded a 22.7% decrease in waste sent to landfill during this period, from 64,959 tonnes last year , to 50,224 tonnes this year.
This gave a quarterly landfill rate of 21.2% which the DAERA described as a “new low”.
It said: “The landfill rate has now reached its lowest ever level for April to June. The long term trend has seen the April to June household waste landfill rate fall consistently from 70.9% in 2006 to the 20.7% recorded in 2020.”
A graph to show landfill rates recorded from 2006 to 2020.
Energy recovery
Almost a quarter of waste arisings were sent for energy recovery compared to 18.7% in the same period last year, and 0.1% during the same quarter 10 years ago.
A total of 54,867 tonnes of waste was sent for energy recovery, giving an energy recovery rate of 23.2%, up from 18.7% reported for the same period in 2019.
The post Northern Ireland municipal waste sees 10% hit appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
