An Armagh councillor has urged ABC Council to stop “sending our rubbish – and our energy – down the road to Dublin and Warrenpoint” and instead build its own energy‑from‑waste facilities to cut landfill and end reliance on exporting non‑recyclable waste.
Alderman Paul Berry has called on ABC Council to develop its own capacity to generate energy from waste, in order to reduce its reliance on exports to other jurisdictions who already have the required infrastructure to maximise non-recyclable waste in the form of energy.
Speaking at Tuesday’s (March 3) ABC Environmental Services committee meeting, the Independent representative for Cusher DEA was anxious to help inform the local authority’s response to DAERA’s public consultation on the draft Rethinking Our Resources: Northern Ireland Resources and Waste Management Strategy.
The consultation covers the management of controlled waste generated by households, commercial, and industrial premises, with headline targets including a 70 per cent recycling rate by 2030, and a 10 per cent cap on landfill disposal by 2035.
The council’s response expresses concerns regarding Northern Ireland’s ability to stop all exports of waste material by 2030.
The relevant passage in the council response states: “Waste infrastructure and capacity is of concern for the future. The Climate Change Committee have recommended that Northern Ireland should ban exports of waste materials by 2030, yet Northern Ireland was recorded as exporting 1,188,627 tonnes of waste in 2021/22.
“Given the complexity of the likely large-scale infrastructure projects needed to work towards reduced reliance on export, it does not seem likely that this timeline is achievable.
“Additionally, Northern Ireland may not have the critical mass of certain harder-to-manage materials to justify the development of indigenous recycling infrastructure.”
Referring to the council’s draft response and ambitious targets now in place in terms of waste management, the Independent representative commented: “Obviously, it’s a massive issue for us, and (…) capacity is of concern for the future.
“At the minute, residual waste is going to Dublin or going to Warrenpoint. In fact, probably most of Northern Ireland’s waste is going that direction.
“Is there any way to flag up within [the council’s response] that in Northern Ireland we would need to look at some sort of a facility?”
Ald Berry went on to explain that ABC Waste Business & Outreach manager, Noeleen O’Malley had recently furnished him with valuable information on energy-from-waste facilities in the likes of Dublin, Sheffield, Cardiff and Paris.
He remarked: “These big energy-from-waste sites are clearly dealing with that landfill problem. And that’s something that obviously we need to deal with, because we don’t want landfills. We want to see how we’re going to change the way we work with waste.
“So, are we as a council exploring that avenue, and is there some way of maybe putting that in, driving that home as to the need for such facilities here in Northern Ireland?”
Head of the Environmental Services Department, Lisa Doherty replied: “There is a genuine need for waste infrastructure within Northern Ireland itself too. So, we will certainly incorporate your comments within the response.”
