Select Committee on Public Accounts Minutes of Evidence

Supplementary memorandum submitted by Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland

Question 113 (Mr Richard Bacon): Compliance with the Landfill Directive Targets

  The Committee requested additional information regarding progress towards compliance with the Landfill Directive Targets. The Northern Ireland Landfill Allowance Scheme Regulations (NILAS) came into operation in April 2005. They imposed specific reporting obligations and targets on the 26 District Councils for each year of the scheme, and heavy financial penalties should targets fail to be met. The central purpose of these controls is to drive and monitor the reduction of biodegradable waste sent to landfill in line with the 2010 landfill directive targets and beyond.

  To ensure Councils remain on track to reach the landfill diversion targets, they now maintain records and make returns to the Department. Since the publication of the NIAO Report in June 2005, District Councils have submitted data directly through the national WasteDataFlow system. Data for the first two quarters of this financial year show that Northern Ireland is on track to meet the 2005-06 target milestone.

  Confidence in compliance with the landfill directive targets is also drawn from the figures for material recovery which show a consistently strong upward trend in the recovery of waste. Progressively less waste going to landfill and the provision of capacity to process recovered materials remains ahead of the growth in recycling. Table 1 and 2 incorporate the latest Northern Ireland statistical returns and comparative figures for recovery rates across the UK.

Table 1

MUNICIPAL AND HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECOVERY RATES ACROSS UK

	Municipal Waste		Household Waste
	2003-04	2004-05	2003-04	2004-05
NI	12.2	18.2	12.5	18.9
England	19	n/avail	17.7	22.7 *
Scotland	12.1	17.3	12.8	n/avail
Wales	17.6	n/avail	16.5	n/avail

* predicted figure

Table 2

MUNICIPAL AND HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING RATES

	Municipal Waste					Household Waste
	NI 2003	England 2003-04	NI 2004-05	England 2004-05	NI 2003	England 2003-04	NI 2004-05	England 2004-05
Recycled	7.2	14.2	11.2	n/avail	6.7	12.4	11	n/avail
Composted	5.0	4.8	7	a/avail	5.7	5.3	7.9	n/avail
Total recy/comp	12.2	19	18.2	n/avail	12.5	17.7	18.9	22.7 *

* predicted figure

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Prepared 23 March 2006