Energy: Veridis-energy from waste
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011An overview of plans for Northern Ireland’s first major energy from waste project. Veridis Energy believes that its proposed energy from waste (EfW) plant on the outskirts of Belfast provides a ‘win-win’ solution for diverting waste from landfill. Despite encountering many obstacles, Jim Lynas and Harry McCourt have remained committed to their vision of creating Northern Ireland’s first major EfW designed to accept the residual fraction of municipal, commercial and industrial wastes which can not be recycled or composted. This shared vision would make a valuable contribution to...[full story]
Waste: Northern Ireland overview
Monday, October 10th, 2011A combination of MBT and energy from waste will be used to manage Northern Ireland’s waste despite a delay in the competitive dialogue process, according to the DoE. agendaNi reports. The region’s three waste management groups: arc21, the North West Region Waste Management Group (NWRWMG) and the Southern Waste Management Partnership (SWaMP) are currently undergoing a competitive dialogue process, used when the contracting authority wishes to award a particularly complex contract. A spokesman from the Department of the Environment has told agendaNi that construction of all the facilities...[full story]
Waste: New delivery programme
Monday, October 10th, 2011agendaNi examines the addendum to the Waste Management Strategy, which outlines a new delivery programme focused on keeping waste out of landfill. The Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy (2006-2020) is under review after the revised Waste Framework Directive (rWFD) was fully transposed in Northern Ireland in April under the Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011. This Directive had set a target to recycle 50 per cent of household waste by 2020 as opposed to the strategy’s original target of 45 per cent. The addendum to the Waste Management Strategy proposes to increase the...[full story]
North/South: Environmental co-operation
Monday, October 10th, 2011Ministers from North and South spoke of enhanced co-operation at this year’s Environment Ireland conference. Stephen Dineen summarises the main themes. There was a strong theme of North/South co-operation to Environment Minister Alex Attwood’s address at this year’s Environment Ireland conference. The conference, in its seventh year, saw the environment ministers from the two jurisdictions attend for the first time. One of the themes taken up by the new Environment Minister in his speech was the potential for Northern Ireland to tap into funding for environmental research, and he...[full story]
North/South: Environmental regulation and trade barriers
Monday, October 10th, 2011A new InterTradeIreland report shows that regulations from EU directives have little impact on companies who trade across the border. InterTradeIreland’s report has found that companies are not impacted significantly by environmental regulations. The report, which examined the impact of regulatory burdens arising from several EU environmental directives, said that only the trans-frontier shipment of waste (TFS) regulations were proving significantly burdensome. It recommends: • reporting requirements arising from environmental regulations should be examined; • electronic and web-based...[full story]
Waste: Edwin Poots – look before you leap
Friday, January 28th, 2011Waste projects have long-lasting consequences and lessons from the past are worth learning for today, according to Environment Minister Edwin Poots. The cautionary tale of Robert Moses formed the backdrop for Edwin Poots’ address to agendaNi’s waste management seminar. In 1948, the New York planner was acknowledged as a leading conservationist when he decided to deposit municipal waste in the city’s tidal marsh on Staten Island. It became the Fresh Kills Landfill, with a mound eventually growing to 2.9 billion cubic feet in size and leaching an estimated 1 million gallons of toxic...[full story]
Waste: Boosting recycling in Fife
Friday, January 28th, 2011Recycling reached 67 per cent in the trial for Fife Council’s new household recycling system. Chris Ewing updates Peter Cheney on how it works and the importance of practical communication as plans take shape. With around 365,000 residents, Fife has the third largest population of Scotland’s 32 council areas. Chris Ewing, the council’s environmental sustainability manager, has overseen a review of household waste and recycling, which started to roll out new services in September. Most of the area’s waste comes from its 167,000 households. Fife has already seen dramatic progress...[full story]
Waste: Aiming for zero waste
Friday, January 28th, 2011Andy Bond explains May Gurney’s approach to waste management, based on the aim of having no waste. The overall point of waste management is having no waste, according to Andy Bond. May Gurney Environmental Services’ Development Director was speaking at agendaNi’s waste management seminar. The Norwich- based company delivers services for councils in England and Wales. Pointing to Scotland and Wales’ ambitious targets, Andy Bond emphasised that this is a case where more can be delivered for less money, along with the desired environmental outcomes. “There is an absolute correlation...[full story]
Waste: Managing waste on-site
Friday, January 28th, 2011Site waste management plans (SWMPs) are to become a statutory requirement for construction companies carrying out a project worth £300,000 or more. agendaNi considers the proposal. SWMPs are currently voluntary, with an estimated 42 per cent of Northern Ireland’s largest construction companies using them. The amount and type of waste that will be produced on a construction site and how it will be reused, recycled or disposed of must be included in the plan. It must also be updated during the construction process to record how the waste is managed. If there are materials that cannot...[full story]
Waste: Waste management review
Friday, January 28th, 2011The revised waste management planning policy statement should encourage innovation and technology, according to Environment Committee Chair Cathal Boylan. Meadhbh Monahan reports. A review of Planning Policy Statement 11 (PPS11), which covers the development of waste management facilities, is currently underway. In November, Edwin Poots said: “The existing policy is out of date. We need to take account of recent changes to European legislation such as the new revised Waste Framework Directive. I am also honouring a commitment given in the 2006 Waste Management Strategy to work towards...[full story]
