Provisional Northern Ireland local authority collected municipal waste management statistics for January to March 2023, published by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, indicates less waste going to landfill.
The landfill rate for waste collected by councils was 24.1% in January to March 2023, a fall from both 75.5% in January to March 2007 and 25.2% recorded during January to March 2022.
Northern Ireland’s councils collected 228,557 tonnes of waste during January to March 2023, similar to the 229,387 tonnes collected during January to March 2022. During January to March 2023, 45.7% of waste collected by councils was sent for recycling, similar to the recycling rate recorded for January to March 2022.
Over a quarter (28.3%) of waste arisings were sent for energy recovery in January to March 2023 which was higher than the 27.5% reported in January to March 2022. In the longer term, energy recovery rates have increased from 1.2% recorded during January to March 2010.
Household waste accounted for 87.0% of all Local Authority collected (LAC) waste during this period.
The recycling rate for household waste was 46.2% in January to March 2023, similar to the rate recorded in January to March 2022. The landfill rate for household waste was 23.5%, which was lower than the landfill rate of 25.0% recorded in January to March 2022.
