- PDSU Director Alan McVicker
An unexpected upside of the recession has been to focus minds on how we can do more with limited resources. That approach is a mainstay of what we are doing in the waste infrastructure programme.
The programme is as much about changing our attitudes to waste in terms of prevention and re-use as it is about transforming the methods by which we handle it.
Indeed, the current economic climate has served as a wake-up call for consumers and businesses.
There is a growing awareness that we need to view waste as a resource.
This approach is helping to shape our thinking going forward.
And I’m pleased to report that we have made good progress on a range of fronts.
The North-West Region WMG is approaching the end of its ISDS phase with three bidders. Formal ISDS submissions are now being evaluated by the Group and it is expected that the Invitation to Submit Final Tender (ISFT) stage with two bidders will be announced in the autumn.
Arc21 looks well placed to enter ISFT in early 2011 while SWaMP2008 kicked off its ISDS process in April.
All three groups are expected to reach contract award in 2011.
The three projects are a good example of the partnership approach that has come to characterise the infrastructure programme.
No-one should underestimate the significance of the three Waste Management Groups. That local councils, with competing needs and political differences were able to put aside these issues to form the Groups, speaks volumes of their commitment to the projects and in fact created the template for the collaborative approach that has facilitated all our progress to date.
However, infrastructure alone will not be the answer to all the challenges that lie ahead.
Landfill diversion targets become more challenging each year and by 2020 the amount we can send to landfill falls dramatically to 220,000 tonnes.
Whilst it is generally accepted that this will be difficult to reach, the consensus is that we can achieve it but only through a combination of waste prevention, increased recycling and appropriate waste infrastructure programmes.
In a recent speech to the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, Environment Minister Edwin Poots highlighted the importance of waste prevention. It is this, coupled with the need for greater resource efficiencies that has driven prevention to the top of the waste hierarchy.
His Department has launched a number of defining initiatives to communicate best practice in the area of waste prevention and recycling.
In March of this year, the Minister launched the DOE’s new waste prevention website. The Rethink Waste campaign (http://www.rethinkwasteni.org) has a core aim of bringing about behavioural in Northern Ireland in order to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Backing up this approach is the ReThink Waste Fund. Currently standing at just over £3million, the fund will make grants available to local councils for schemes that support waste recycling, re-use and diversion from landfill.
Apart from the obvious environmental benefits of implementing such schemes, there are also economic gains to be made.
As the Minister commented, “I firmly believe that the pursuit of environmental and economic goals is a complementary activity”.
Looking ahead, it is clear that we face a period of rapid and potentially difficult change.
With waste prevention and recycling to the fore, we need also to consider how we deal with landfill and develop a holistic approach to handling various waste streams including commercial and industrial waste.
This is an exciting and challenging time for waste management in Northern Ireland. We have before us the opportunity to revolutionise the way we handle waste, and to do so in a way that will help improve our environment and our economy.
That has to be a goal worth striving for.
Best regards
Alan