MINISTER WANTS NORTHERN IRELAND TO AIM FOR HIGHER RECYCLING TARGET AND SAYS 60-70% IS ACHIEVABLE

Mr Poots told the conference that two councils in Northern Ireland were already close to achieving the 50% target and to fully exploit the benefits of recycling, targets of between 60-70% should be aimed for.

The minister believes that the higher target is more ambitious, but certainly achievable. “If efforts were more focused on this area, we would not have to look at intervention further down the Waste Hierarchy.” he said.

Mr Poots said the government’s Rethink Waste campaign launched in March – incorporating WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign to reduce food waste is helping bring about the cultural changes needed to make recycling and reducing waste part of everyday life.

The campaign will “ramp up” in the new year and will also benefit from funding this year. A Rethink Waste Fund of £5 million has been offered to councils to provide capital grants to fund the costs of infrastructure projects and a £240,000 revenue programme is assisting others - mainly in the community and voluntary sector - to fund waste prevention and recycling projects.

The minister said: “Whilst nobody can, in the current financial climate, anticipate the availability of future funding in years to come, I will continue to do what I can to move us towards a time when nothing goes into landfill.  Towards a time when we really can claim that we have become truly resource efficient and grown a sustainable, dynamic economy. Towards a time when people will not need government to tell them how important their resources are because they will know it and they will act on it”

In her address to the conference WRAP’s Chief Executive, Dr Liz Goodwin, outlined the impact WRAP had made in Northern Ireland over the last three years such as supporting growth in the recycling sector of over £7 million. Over 126,000 tonnes of waste have been diverted from landfill and over 84,000 tonnes CO2 emissions have been prevented in Northern Ireland.

In WRAP’s work with the construction sector supply chain over £478 million of Northern Ireland construction projects have now set Resource Efficiency Commitments and 27 construction organisations in Northern Ireland have signed the Halving Waste to Landfill Commitment.

“We have provided training to over 200 construction professionals and construction waste management operators helping them to develop site waste management plans, design out waste at the beginning and maximise the recovery of wastes for recycling and by March we will have trained over 70 council officers, on topics including waste prevention, implementing communications campaigns and working with community sector recyclers,” said Dr Goodwin.

She also acknowledged budgets would be tightened, but that it would keep WRAP nimble and focussed on delivering value for money. Dr Goodwin outlined the direction of travel for WRAP in its next business plan from April 2011.

“The clear message we have received from our stakeholders is that we need to engineer a significant shift up the waste hierarchy with more focus on waste prevention, better design and improved resource efficiency,” she said, “We need to start a real and honest dialogue about consumption and support innovations and behaviour changes which enable us to use fewer resources overall.”

Dr Goodwin said preventing food waste and treating it with methods such as anaerobic digestion will remain important to WRAP as will diverting waste from landfill and the use of voluntary agreements.

Business leaders, local government representatives and environmental experts at the conference in Templepatrick were upbeat about the environmental and economic benefits of resource efficiency, sharing their success stories and outlining real gains which chimed with the conference theme: “Waste to riches – maximising the benefits of Resource Efficiency.”

Head of Waste Management at Belfast City Council, Dr Tim Walker, said last year, twelve businesses had saved over £250,000 under the Business Improvements Through Environmental Solutions (BITES) scheme and that this year the scheme was oversubscribed. He said there were added benefits where staff being trained, took their new skills with them and made environmental changes in their home life.

“Behaviour change is possible when people become comfortable with it,” said Dr Walker, “It’s not that they don’t want to change, it’s just that they want it made easy for them.”

Representing business, Mike Mullan Dale Farm’s Group HR and Business Improvement Director talked about how three years ago Northern Ireland’s premier dairy found environmental requirements a weakness that was “forced upon” them, but now that the organisation understands the benefits that can be gained, the “greening” of the company is now seen as a key competitive strength.

Dale farm has achieved a 96% recycling rate of its plastic bottles onsite at the Pennybridge dairy. Three years ago, it was just 36%. Dale Farm was the first producer in Northern Ireland to sign up to WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment 2 and with help from WRAP under the commitment, has now increased the amount of recycled content in its plastic bottles to 15% percent.

Dr Sara McGuckin, Head of the Better Regulation Team at the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) told the conference: “Businesses are benefitting from the introduction of waste quality protocols in Northern Ireland. Options for simpler permitting are currently being considered.

“NIEA will issue a business survey in January 2011 for its regulated businesses and would encourage feedback on their experience of working with the Agency and where improvements could be made,” she said.