Northern Ireland’s provisional quarterly figures show the country’s recycling rate has jumped from 42.1% to 47.1% for the same quarter compared to the previous year.
The household waste preparing for reuse, dry recycling and composting rate was 47.1% between October and December 2017, an increase on the 42.1% recorded during the same three months of 2016.
At council level, rates varied from 40.1% in Causeway Coast & Glens to 54.6% in Mid Ulster.
Northern Ireland’s councils collected 232,004 tonnes of local authority collected (LAC) municipal waste between October and December 2017, 1.7% higher than the 228,145 tonnes collected during the same three months of 2016.
Household waste accounts for 89.3% of total LAC municipal waste. Newry, Mourne & Down had the smallest quantity of household waste per person at 99kg, whilst the largest quantity per person was recorded in Antrim & Newtownabbey at 131kg.
The LAC municipal waste energy recovery rate was 18.4%, lower than the 19.8% reported for October to December 2016. The highest rate was recorded in Newry, Mourne & Down at 50.0% and the lowest was 4.1% in Fermanagh & Omagh.
The latest quarterly landfill rate for household waste was 32.3%, a further reduction on the 38.1% recorded during the same three months of 2016. There were 43,126 tonnes of bio-degradable municipal waste sent to landfill between October and December 2017. This was 15.6% lower than the 51,097 tonnes sent between the same three months of 2016.
It also accounted for a smaller proportion of the annual allowance, 17.3% between October and December 2017 compared to 19.4% in the equivalent quarter of 2016.
The statistical report containing more detail can be accessed via the DAERA website.
