Derry records big drop in landfilling

The quarterly publication entitled: ‘Northern Ireland Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste Management Statistics,’ details the quantities of municipal waste managed in Northern Ireland.

The report covers the period when measures were introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Whilst five councils reported an increase in the amount of waste sent to landfill, Derry City & Strabane council reported a decrease of 13.7 per cent. Overall, in Northern Ireland, since 2006, the amount of waste going to landfill has reduced substantially. The rate of municipal waste going to landfill was down from last year at 21.2 per cent. Since April-June 2006, this represents a fall of 72.5 per cent in the amount of waste finding its way to landfill.

During the period of April to June of this year, NI’s councils collected 236,560 tonnes of waste. This was 10.8 per cent lower than over the same period in 2019. According to the report, this decrease was due primarily to the closure of civic amenity sites.

The amount of waste recycled between April and June was down slightly from last year: 53 per cent compared to 54 per cent. However, the rate of household recycling for April to June 2020 remained largely similar to the same three-month period of 2019.

The Covid-19 pandemic has presented a number of challenges to councils aiming to provide adequate waste and recycling services to the public. Restrictions and controls remain in place at recycling centres across the district.

Derry City & Strabane District council are continuing with the roll out of the final phase of the brown bin scheme.