Waste exported by Derry & Strabane Council declines from 30,000 tonnes to just over 20,000 tonnes

The Review of Waste Management in NI, published on Friday, has revealed that across the North as a whole the amount of waste exported by the 11 local councils fell from 259,000 tonnes in 2017/18 to 250,000 in 2022/23.

Most waste is exported for recycling and for energy recovery, according to the report by Comptroller and Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville.

"In 2022/23, the 11 councils exported just over 123,000 tonnes of waste for energy recovery to six countries, including over 80,000 tonnes exported to Sweden and 20,000 tonnes to Ireland.

"In that year, almost 121,000 tonnes was also exported for recycling to twenty-two countries. This included 26,800 tonnes exported to Great Britain, and 25,300 tonnes exported to India,” reported Ms. Carville.

The report points out that waste tends to be exported because it is cheaper and because there is a lack of waste-to-energy infrastructure in the North.

"As well as lower costs, NI exports waste to other countries for recycling and energy recovery due to insufficient local infrastructure to process it.

"There are economic and environmental costs associated with shipping waste around the world, but it is difficult to quantify the extent of this for council waste exported from NI,” the report states.

Around 7.7 million tonnes of waste are estimated to be generated annually in the North. One million tonnes, mainly household waste, is collected by councils.

While detailed data on council-collected waste is collated and publicly available, this only represents around 10 per cent of the total waste collected here.

In the case of the remaining 90 per cent, there is a lack of available and accurate information, with a reliance, instead, on estimates.

The new audit report notes that a lack of robust data will make it more difficult to both plan on future targets.

The report also identifies gaps in information regarding landfill. 1.29 million tonnes of waste was sent to landfill in 2022/23.

Ms. Carville points out that the disposal of waste in landfills should be the last resort for managing waste, behind other measures such as prevention and recycling.

As a result, the North currently has a legislative requirement to place a cap (of 10 per cent) on the proportion of total waste sent to landfill by 2035.

However, while landfill sites are regulated by the NI Environment Agency and each site has a maximum capacity, theNIEA does not have a statutory requirement to track landfill capacities.

As a result, detailed information regarding when landfill in the North could run out is not known, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The report notes a delay in the publication of a new Waste Management Strategy.

A new strategy was originally due by the end of 2023 – a 2024 publication date has yet to be confirmed.

Ms. Carville said: “Effective waste management is a critical part of modern society. As NI moves towards its target of Net Zero by 2050, optimising waste management practices is even more important.

"The new Waste Management Strategy will play a pivotal role in these efforts , requiring clear and measurable ambitions and performance targets.”

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