NI's Increasing Covid Pandemic Waste Figures Present Challenges & Opportunities

摘要

It's been claimed the latest Local Authority Collected Waste statistics from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, the third quarter of data since the covid pandemic began, highlights the growing challenge to manage Northern Ireland's waste sustainably. This latest data shows that waste arisings in NI remain on the increase and is in keeping with recent trends. In this latest quarter, waste arisings have increased year on year by 9.2%, just as it did in the previous quarter (+5.3%). Data for the last full year 2019/20 prior to the covid pandemic showed that waste levels have risen by nearly 10% since their lowest point in 2012/13 to reach 998,985 tonnes. The first three quarters of data for this year indicate that we are likely to exceed this amount again, potentially surpassing one million tonnes once again. They also indicate a decline in recycling levels from the same period last year meaning that when taken together there is even more waste that needs to be treated in other ways.