Indaver, the European waste management experts behind plans to develop a modern waste management solution to meet the needs of six Northern Ireland councils in the arc21 area, has warned that Northern Ireland is facing a looming waste crisis unless it delivers the necessary infrastructure to manage its own waste.
Today the company welcomed the submission of Further Environmental Information by arc21, for the integrated waste management solution at Hightown Quarry in Mallusk. The information updates and refreshes the planning application and addresses statutory consultee responses. Today Indaver also published a report which outlines the precarious nature of Northern Ireland’s waste sector and the need case for the project. It warns that Northern Ireland risks adding a waste infrastructure crisis to our existing wastewater crisis which is already damaging our economic aspirations and environmental stewardship.
Climate change and circular economy targets mean we no longer send our residual (black bag), largely non-recyclable waste to landfill, and because of this, most of our landfills have closed. This leaves Northern Ireland extremely vulnerable, and subject to increasingly volatile and expensive waste export markets, where we expect other jurisdictions to manage our waste. This is neither a responsible nor a sustainable long-term solution, especially in these turbulent geopolitical times.
In 2023, NI exported over 280,000 tonnes of residual waste as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) to fuel energy-from-waste plants across Europe. This figure has more than doubled (+223%) since 2020 and will continue to rise without local waste infrastructure and leave Northern Ireland at the mercy of these already volatile markets. Indaver believes that like most councils in Great Britain, implementing a local solution would deliver self-reliance, enable NI to increase recycling levels, and ensure we recover energy from NI waste locally, benefiting both the environment and the economy.
Speaking about the updated and refreshed planning submission Colin O’Hanlon, Indaver said;
“There is chronic under-capacity in the Northern Ireland waste management sector for our black bag waste, and we are lagging significantly behind the rest of the UK and Europe in adopting the modern infrastructure necessary to address this growing challenge. Continued inaction means we are nearing a tipping point where we are increasingly vulnerable and risk adding a waste crisis to our existing wastewater crisis.
“We already know that the wastewater crisis is severely hampering Northern Ireland’s economic ambitions and exacerbating environmental concerns around Lough Neagh and Belfast Lough.
“Unlike the wastewater crisis, however, there is a ready-made solution waiting to be implemented. That solution is the £250 million arc21 residual waste project, which presents an opportunity to showcase how private-sector investment can drive public benefit, delivering long-term value and leaving a valuable asset in public ownership.
“The project simply requires a Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Ministerial signature to deliver a robust and evidence-based planning decision. This will allow it to progress to the next stage of procurement where a business case evaluation will trigger a democratic decision by the arc21 councils to decide if it progresses.” To read more about the project and Northern Ireland’s waste infrastructure needs you can view and download the Indaver report: Tipping Point – NI’s Looming Waste Crisis: The Case for Critical Waste Infrastructure for Northern Ireland here