24 minute read
Waste and water report
Waste and water infrastructure
Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon MLA shines a spotlight on why investment in our water and sewerage systems is critical for our future.
Water is an essential part of our daily lives. Turning on the tap is one of the first things we do in the morning and one of the last things at night, with our wastewater continuously being removed in unseen pipes running beneath our feet.
There are 27,000 kilometres of water mains and 16,000 kilometres of sewers in Northern Ireland. On most occasions these underground pipes all work seamlessly beneath the surface but pressure is mounting on our ageing drainage and wastewater infrastructure following years of underinvestment. Combined with the impacts of climate change this is literally creating the perfect storm with potentially devastating consequences. The record high temperatures and prolonged dry spells this summer and the resultant pressure on our water system demonstrate that security of our water cannot be taken for granted.
Already over 100 areas across the North are operating near or above intended design capacity either at the wastewater treatment works or within the sewer network. This means that future connections for developments may not be accepted by NI Water.
This could constrain economic growth and halt building much needed new homes as well as causing likely increased pollution and damage to the environment and greater risk to the population’s health and wellbeing.
No one organisation or government department has the whole answer. In November I published Living with Water in Belfast: An Integrated Plan for Drainage and Wastewater Management in Greater Belfast. Part of my commitment to climate action, this plan is a result of partnership working to deliver a 21st century drainage and wastewater system initially for Belfast and which will hopefully be rolled out to other areas across the North. At £1.4 billion over 12 years it is not a quick or inexpensive fix but this plan sets out how we can achieve a thriving and resilient Belfast which is better protected and prepared for the future.
The right infrastructure will improve people’s lives and I am continuing to fight for long-term investment to secure the future of water and waste water infrastructure. This financial year I allocated a combined capital and resource budget of £344.5 million to NI Water for 2021/22 from my department’s budget. This is the first year in a long time that NI Water has been fully funded.
Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon MLA at Stranmillis Weir In May 2021, the Utility Regulator published its Final Determination that NI Water will require investment of around £2 billion in water and wastewater services over the six year price control period. Sustained and secure levels of investment over multiple price controls will be required if we are to recover from the historic underinvestment in our water and sewerage services that has created the current situation of capacity constraint across the North. If NI Water is fully funded for PC21, it plans to remove 49 of the 100 areas from constraint where the wastewater treatment works are operating near or above design capacity. However, NI Water has indicated that a further 30 economically constrained areas may emerge during PC21.
NI Water also has an important role to play in addressing the effects of climate change. Allocation of this funding will enable NI Water to improve the efficiency of its service delivery, reduce its carbon impact and strive for net zero ambitions.
Just ahead of my attendance at COP26, NI Water published its Power of Water report which demonstrated that, whilst the technology is constantly evolving, we already have the elements to help us change the way we use, store and generate energy right across the utilities, whether it is in the water industry, electricity or transport.
My department, alongside other departments, has done much to help NI Water take the first step towards greater sustainability, for example by supporting the installation of solar farms and through the early adoption of hydrogen electrolysis using wastewater.
This is collaborative partnership and proof that we can lead the way in the circular economy and not wait for answers from elsewhere.
Flood risk
In addition to the provision of having clean safe drinking water and having an effective system to deal with wastewater, there is also a need to successfully manage flood risk particularly due to increased risks associated with climate change. This year, I have allocated over £19 million for development of flood alleviation projects and I recognise the need for sustained and increased investment in this area of work for years to come.
I remain committed to the delivery of flood alleviation projects such as the Shimna and Belfast Tidal Flood Alleviation Schemes. The Belfast Tidal Flood Alleviation Scheme involves the detailed design and construction of over five miles (approximately 8.5km) of flood defences along the tidal River Lagan covering the area from Belfast Harbour to Stranmillis Weir. The scheme has not only been designed to integrate with the surrounding landscapes and streetscapes but also takes into account the latest projections on climate change. My department will also soon publish the second cycle of the Flood Risk Management Plans, outlining the objectives and measures to manage flood risk that will benefit citizens across all of Northern Ireland.
Planning also has a key role to play and my department is working closely with key stakeholders to ensure sound, realistic and evidence-based local development plans (LDPs) that take into account the availability of necessary supporting infrastructure, including wastewater treatment and sewerage network capacity. These should focus on growth in sustainable locations where there is existing capacity and maximise the use of existing infrastructure. This involves close liaison with infrastructure providers like NI Water to ensure proposals can be supported by investment and working with councils where capacity constraints are identified to establish if these can be overcome.
In planning policy terms, I also want to ensure my department’s planning policy remains up to date, robust and fit for purpose which is why I have announced reviews of the strategic planning policy for renewable and low carbon energy as well as oil and gas development including development involving fracking. These are all important for working together to help to tackle climate change.
What is important now is that we seek to build on all of this work. We must work together with urgency to meet our climate change ambitions, grow our economy, address regional imbalance, improve wellbeing and support a thriving region where people want to live, work, visit and invest.
Natural World Products: Look after our soils and the earth will look after itself
Colm Warren, Chief Executive of Ireland’s leading organics recycler Natural World Products highlights the importance of returning organic matter to heavily farmed soils to not only complete a local bio-circular economy and protect growing sustainability but to make a hugely positive carbon capture impact in the global fight against climate change.
The recent staging of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow has placed a renewed focus on environmental and sustainability issues, and rightly so. Now, more than ever, businesses, public bodies and governments are asking themselves ‘how can we do things better?’ and it is not before time.
Described by Prince Charles as the “last chance saloon” to save the planet, the significance of the summit could not be overstated. There is a growing awareness that drastic action is needed. Working with local authorities across Northern Ireland and some of the largest waste collectors in the Republic, NWP manages around 300,000 tonnes of household food and garden waste a year, delivering over 50 per cent of all household recycling in Northern Ireland.
The results in terms of diverting high volumes of material from landfill and incineration are obvious but increasingly, the hugely significant contribution our recycled product can make to soil health and carbon capture is starting to be properly appreciated. By converting the organics we receive into quality peat-free compost, we produce a strategically useful product that can flow into our agri-growing sector, horticulture and back to the very communities from which it was originally received.
Whether it is retailers, farmers, landscape gardeners, schools, men’s sheds or greenkeepers, it is hard to imagine a more immediately tangible example of what a local circular economy should look like.
Accordingly, policy-makers and politicians in the areas of environment, energy and “waste management” have to be aware of the impacts of their decision-making beyond the potentially easiest-to-grasp soundbites of “landfill diversion” or “renewable energy”.
Over my time in this sector, too many poor decisions, encouraged by the slickest of lobbies (often funded by financiers with little understanding of our bespoke circumstances), have been made around, for example, hugely generous taxpayer subsidies for ill thought-through technologies and schemes.
These have allowed poorly conceived projects to completely distort markets and hold back genuine attempts to improve our situation. In some cases, literally millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been squandered attempting to get over-hyped and fanciful projects off the ground or kept on life support.
And the taxpayer pays again in the end, both financially and environmentally, as these inevitably fall over or stutter along inefficiently.
Overworked
In Northern Ireland, years of intensive farming practices mean that much of the ground beneath our feet has been left overworked and stripped of organic matter.
A nitrate vulnerable zone, we remain over reliant on synthetic fertilisation and, with Sir Peter Kendall due to issue a report on local farming’s future imminently, it is beyond doubt that how we support farmers to manage our land, soils and growing resources must change.
When changing weather patterns (wetter winters and hotter, drier summers) and increased risks around global food supply in the wake of Covid are added to the mix, it is clear we need to do all we can to protect and restore the health of our soils and give our land the nourishment it requires for the benefit of ourselves and future generations.
Full of organic matter and releasing key nutrients slowly over time, organic soil conditioner is now widely viewed as playing a vitally important role in the restoration of a healthy soils eco-system, rich as it is in plant available nutrients with an alkaline pH vital to the high carbon exchange rate that represents a plant’s ability to absorb these whilst counteracting the damage of high acidity chemical fertilisers.
Building up organic content helps reduce the requirement to add lime and other chemicals to the earth. It can reverse the trends of declining earthworm populations, poor soil structure, address friability and compaction issues, help with moisture retention and run-off, produce better crop yields over time and lower fuel bills for farmers.
An increase in organic matter in soil by just 1 per cent will improve water retention capacity by 25,000 litres per acre.
Perhaps even more significant is the ability of organic compost to trap carbon in the earth. A single tonne of organic compost applied to soil equates to around 375kg of CO2 kept out of the atmosphere, rising to around 900kg of CO2 saved where compost is a substitute for peat in horticulture.
There is no quick fix and there is no Such practices require ‘out of the box’ thinking but clearly could have a major impact in a place like Northern Ireland where we know carbon neutrality will be a real challenge due to our heavy reliance on a traditionally methanecentred agri sector.
The Executive’s recently launched Green Growth Strategy consultation, combined with the Department for the Economy’s 10x, are welcome opportunities to discuss how we might support a new generation of jobs in a local circular bioeconomy, where Northern Ireland can lead the way in new agri-tech while also protecting our environment and propelling ourselves towards the noble goal of genuine carbon neutrality.
Soil health is not a choice. It needs support from government through the introduction of policy initiatives that encourage the agriculture sector to transition to new methods of working the land.
Acting now, on a cross-departmental
doubt adjusting from traditional practices cannot and should not be done overnight. However, we have to look at ways of assisting that transition. What could bring substantial long-term gains, protecting the future sustainability of our local agri-economy and contributing to the global fight against the climate crisis, can only be realised through sensible and well thought-through strategic investment in the medium-term.
A new generation of ‘carbon farmers’ are already ploughing ahead, if you’ll pardon the pun! They are intentionally minimising soil cultivation and disturbance in order to prevent the release of CO2. In addition to applying organic compost, planting crops such as grasses and cereals pulls in more carbon which over time is sequestered in the earth.
By certifying the amount of stored carbon, landowners can then sell these as credits to corporations wishing to offset their emissions. basis, to make the big decisions on the shape of policy over the next decade that could safeguard our land resources and ensure growing sustainability locally for generations to come is a must.
We must avoid the pitfalls of the narrow and isolated thinking, focused only on set goals at one end of a broad spectrum, that has distorted markets and held us back historically.
Massive challenges no doubt, but what an opportunity.
Colm Warren is Chief Executive of Natural World Products, Ireland’s leading organics recycling company.
T: 028 9060 0145 E: colm.warren@nwp-recycle.com W: www.naturalworldproducts.com
New Decade, New Approach pledged the ending of plastic pollution in Northern Ireland. In response, an action plan published in 2020 also committed to ending the use of single-use plastics in Civil Service procurement by October 2021.
Progress towards the ending of plastic pollution in Northern Ireland since the pledge made in the New Decade, New Approach agreement has not been particularly quick; while Northern Ireland's recycling has enhanced significantly in recent years, the practice of landfilling remains too common. In efforts to reduce Northern Ireland's levels of landfill to a targeted 10 per cent by 2030, treatment and reduction of plastic waste will be essential. The publication of the Single-Use Plastic Reduction Action Plan for the NICS Government Estate by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the Department of Finance (DoF) has signalled the public sector’s intent to move away from the use of single-use plastics.
The Plan notes that “plastic can literally contribute to saving lives in our health service. Plastic has many beneficial properties, such as prolonging the life of food thus reducing harmful carbon emissions from food waste” and states that “we must be careful not to demonise all plastic”. Instead, the plan focuses on single-use plastic items such as bottles, cups, straws, stirrers, containers, cotton buds, disposable cutlery and plastic bags.
The plan provides guidance and instruction on the removal of single-use plastics from the central government estate offices. These instructions will be carried out by all core government departments and Executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are also invited to establish similar initiatives.
The action plan was introduced from October 2020 as an attempt on the Executive’s behalf to “lead the way and set a positive example to others by getting its own house in order”, with the aim of allowing departments and supply chains to phase in alternatives to single-use plastics in time for a blanket ban on them coming into effect on 1 October 2021.
A complete list of the items to be removed from government offices under the plan is provided within the document, such as single-use sachets for sauce, coffee, etc, takeaway cutlery; and single-use containers for hand soap or cleaning products. Operational single-use plastics, such as clothing or equipment used for medical or health and safety reasons and toner cartridges, are not included within the scope of the plan.
The actions under the action plan are grouped into two areas: raising awareness and changing behaviour across the Northern Ireland Civil Service, with an objective of changing internal practices in order to eliminate single-use plastics and increase recycling rates across the government estate; and working with government suppliers and contractors to bring forward proposals on the implementation of green public procurement to eliminate single-use plastic in government supplies, services and works and to find sustainable replacements where appropriate.
Despite stating that “a number of departments are looking to move faster”, DAERA and the DoF recommended a target date of October 2021 for the removal of all single-use plastics from central government offices, “to give all departments adequate time to adjust relevant contracts”. The implementation of the plan was split into two distinct phases: phase one, the voluntary phase out scheme from October 2020 to September 2021; and the outright ban from October 2021 onwards.
The plan instructed departments to work with their suppliers in order to replace existing single-use plastics and to replace their single-use plastic items with sustainable alternatives, with measures to be “cost-neutral, either directly, or as a result of saving elsewhere in the supply chain or in the waste management process”.
DAERA and the DoF also advised the departments: “In some circumstances, if unavoidable, it may be necessary to run down existing stock of single-use plastic products held by a department or a supplier on their behalf, before replacement nonsingle-use plastic items are introduced. Such situations must be agreed in advance between suppliers and departmental customers, and the practice should not continue beyond Phase 1.”
A network of ‘environment champions’ will be appointed to lead within their own departments. DAERA will also “share information gathered from supplier progress statements and enable further progress and collaboration through cross-departmental forums, such as the NICS Environmental Working Group”.
In a statement to agendaNi, DAERA said: “DAERA, in partnership with Department of Finance, has removed all unnecessary single-use plastic from the Government estate within the target date of October 2021. A voluntary ban on the use of single-use plastics was introduced across the Northern Ireland Civil Service estate is now in place from 1 October 2021… Arm’s Length Bodies were invited to set up a similar scheme in June 2021 and we are currently working with them to establish work achieved or planned, offering support and guidance if required. Data is being collated from all Departments to help inform an annual report on the implementation of the plan. This report will be published in due course.” The Department also noted that it is currently consulting on the reduction of single-use plastic beverage cups and food containers and is seeking public responses, and that it has provided over £600,000 in funding for the Tackling Plastic project led by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.
Construction and Procurement Delivery carried out a six-monthly review session with the relevant suppliers in order to determine the progress achieved and to agree next steps. Government departments and participating public bodies were also required to provide reports to their respective ministers on the actions being taken to enable DAERA to assess progress. Lastly, DAERA will carry out an annual review of the action plan in order to update the actions within accordingly.
Why innovation is the future for Northern Ireland’s waste
The COP26 conference in Glasgow has woken the world up to the importance of sustainability.
It has brought a sense of urgency to our need to act on climate change, to reduce carbon emissions and to ultimately arrest global warming so we have a chance of leaving the earth in a better place for the next generation.
It stands to reason that the waste sector provides a good place to enact change which will help us achieve those goals. Whilst society continues to produce ever greater volumes of waste, the waste industry continues to find ways of reusing, recycling and recovering value from the waste produced.
Re-Gen Waste knows that first-hand, having been at the forefront of the drive to boost recycling here in Northern Ireland. Since 2004, Re-Gen has been collecting household waste from throughout the province before sorting and recycling as much as possible at its Newry plant.
It has developed into one of Europe’s most advanced materials recovery facility (MRF) installations using best-in-class waste processing technologies to ensure the highest European standards are not only met, but regularly exceeded.
Re-Gen uses a combination of computer-controlled, mechanical and manual sorting processes to ensure it fully extracts all the recyclable commodities with minimal contamination.
“At Re-Gen, our vision since inception has been continual improvement in recycling across the UK and Ireland,” explains Joseph Doherty, Managing Director at Re-Gen Waste. “Our aim is to bring customers closer to zero landfill from residual waste. Our business is recycling and since 2004, we have diverted 1.8 million tons of waste from landfill. In addition, there are still recyclable materials finding their way into the residual waste stream and we want to address that.”
Crucially, the company’s focus is on continuous engineering development, driven by reinvestment of its profits driving innovation in its businesses.
That innovation, and indeed the adoption of new processes and techniques emerging from companies throughout the global waste sector, means each year Re-Gen is able to reduce the small fraction of waste which it isn’t able to recycle.
At present, that final fraction is sent for incineration to energy plants in Northern Europe, producing not just electricity, but
also heat, supplied to homes and businesses via district heating systems, a much less carbon intensive process than building a waste incinerator in Northern Ireland where the excess heat from the process could not be economically used as we have no heat networks in our towns and cities.
Export provides the most environmentally friendly method of managing the non-recyclable part of Northern Ireland’s waste at present, but it will only be used as a short-term solution, one which will be phased out as future advancements in the technology used to recycle waste are developed.
Homegrown solutions
In fact, many of those technologies are already in existence, such as fully automated picking systems, optic sorters and robotics to maximise recovery and reduce contamination. Other exciting technologies are being developed to provide on shore recovery of valuable chemicals and, while not yet economically viable, it is expected that in the next few years innovation from ReGen and others will deliver homegrown solutions to homegrown waste issues.
As the technology progresses, Re-Gen will send less and less waste for energy recovery and aims to reuse all
recoverable fractions of the waste it handles here in Northern Ireland. Policy will see an increase in and a redistribution of funding for the industry.
“The waste sector doesn’t stand still,” Doherty says. “Each week we are seeing new technologies emerge which are helping companies like us to recycle more and more.
“That is hugely exciting for us and for Northern Ireland because it means we are getting closer and closer to our end goal of being able to recycle all our waste. That will be a boost for Northern Ireland’s sustainability credentials and will speed us on the journey to net zero carbon and beyond.” There is, however, a concern that reaching that goal may be pushed out of reach if an alternative proposal for handling the future of Northern Ireland’s waste is given the green light.
Arc21, a group of six councils, is proposing the construction of a £240 million incinerator near Mallusk as a solution to handle the province’s waste.
However, using existing waste-to-energy technology, of the type proposed by next 25 years, will tie the province into technologies that are already antiquated,” Doherty explains. “This stymies the chances of making meaningful reductions and could add to carbon emissions leaving the province, and ratepayers in the six council areas in the arc21 region, burdened with an expensive solution.”
Doherty believes arc21’s proposal will make Northern Ireland a laggard, not just in terms of its waste sector, but in its sustainability credentials.
“The choice is clear. Northern Ireland can opt for an already-outdated solution which will act as a drag on our ambitions to reach net zero carbon, snuff out any chance of innovation in the sector and necessitate the importation of waste, or we can opt for the future solutions which will accelerate the province’s route to net zero and beyond, encourage innovation and quickly allow us to recycle all Northern Ireland’s waste,” he adds.
In the wake of COP26, Re-Gen’s solution fits perfectly with the global movement towards an environmentally friendly, intelligent and workable way to handle waste in the future.
Re-Gen Waste is continually growing its business with plans to invest £20 million in developing products made from recycled wastepaper and glass, in a project which will create 120 jobs. It is also on track to develop a Circular Economy Resource Park near its Carnbane Business Park base in Newry, a move which will include manufacturing facilities for producing solid recovered fuel from waste and which will create 130 jobs and reduce the need for the energy recovery of waste materials.
arc21, requires a high-volume, guaranteed waste stream for at least 25 years to make them economically viable, potentially creating a mandate to prioritise the demands of the facility over the need to recycle.
In essence, as more materials are recycled, reducing the volumes in our black bins there is a strong likelihood that waste would have to be imported to Northern Ireland in the future to ensure the incinerator was fed.
The proposal would also stifle innovation in the sector.
“Our research indicates that this public sector proposal to provide a £240 million investment in a waste incinerator for the T: +44(0)28 3026 5432 E: info@regenwaste.com W: www.regenwaste.com
Northern Ireland is to set a target to ensure that no more than 10 per cent of its waste goes to landfill by 2035.
As part of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) draft Environment Strategy announced by Minister Edwin Poots MLA at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, a new Waste Management Strategy is set to be published in 2023, including the new landfill target.
Northern Ireland’s current Waste Management Strategy was put in place as a provisional measure in 2019 in anticipation of the development of a new Waste Management Strategy, because of the absence of functioning government at the time.
Northern Ireland has experienced a dramatic decline in levels of waste going to landfill, mostly due to an increase in recycling driven by a European Union Directive target and the Northern Ireland Landfill Allowance Scheme, a tax escalator which has created a strong incentive to divert waste from landfill.
Since 2010, local councils have reduced the amount of waste they send to landfill by about 40 per cent. Latest figures for municipal waste collected by councils show a recycling rate for household waste of 52 per cent and a landfill rate of 21.5 per cent (a fall from 70.9 per cent in 2006).
DAERA has said that in publishing its new Waste Management Strategy in 2023 it intends to bring forward all of the actions set out in its Waste Prevention Plan 2019, while also introducing legislation to reduce the consumption of single use plastic items and setting a target of bringing no more than 10 per cent of waste to landfill by 2035. In addition, it will introduce a new UK-wide Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for packaging and introduce a Deposit Return Scheme for Drink Containers in 2024/2025.
Setting out its future vision, the Department says it wants:
• a low carbon, resource efficient society in which resources are valued and reused, putting them back into the economy and waste is prevented;
• increased recycling rates with targets set to support this;
• changed consumer attitudes to reuse and repair and waste prevention;
• no biodegradable waste to landfill;
• increased food redistribution; and
• all in society aware of the problem of food waste and take active steps to reduce this.
Critical to the planned reduction in landfill rates in Northern Ireland will be the development of a circular economy. The Department for the Economy (DfE) is currently developing a Circular Economy Strategic Framework (CESF) for Northern Ireland, but the framework is set to be progressed with officials across all government departments, recognising the cross-cutting nature of the ambition.
A Northern Ireland Circularity Gap report is expected in 2021 before the publication of the Circular Economy Strategic Framework by 2022.
