Arc21 Response
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Consultation on Amending the Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 - arc21 Response Introduction arc21 is a collaborative legal public sector entity embracing eleven councils located along the Eastern Region of Northern Ireland which covers 25% of the land base, populated by approximately 57% of the national population and accounts for approximately 54% of the national municipal waste ( as currently defined) arisings. The establishment of arc21 together with its functionality is enshrined in legislation with the original provision being The Local Government (Constituting a Joint Committee a Body Corporate) Order (NI) 2004. In essence, it is primarily responsible for activities associated with the production, ongoing development and implementation of a Waste Management Plan within the Eastern Region Area. The eleven constituent councils of arc21 are; Antrim Borough Council, Ards Borough Council, Ballymena Borough Council, Belfast City Council, Castlereagh Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council, Down District Council, Larne Borough Council, Lisburn City Council, Newtownabbey Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. Report arc21 welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation. Prior to addressing the one specific question posed in the consultation document, arc21 would make the following general comments. General The consultation paper advises the “purpose of this consultation is to clarify „separate collection‟ and to propose an amendment to the Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) to reflect this.” Whilst the proposed amendment does appear to clarify the position of co-mingled collection with respect to it not being deemed as separate collection, it is regrettable that sufficient clarity has not yet emerged on the wider, and arguably more important, issue pertaining to meeting the obligations set out in Articles 4, 10 and 11 of the revised Waste Framework Directive. The European Commission’s Guidance on the interpretation of the key provisions of the revised Waste Framework Directive issued in June 2012 does offer some broad pointers but lacks the clarity needed, particularly in respect of the interpretation of “technically, environmentally and economically practicable” and “ quality standards”. Although arc21 welcome the Department’s acknowledgement of this and their commitment to produce local guidance, we would urge the Department to progress this as a matter of priority and ensure the process is not subject to undue delay. The timely production of appropriate guidance is vital as the prevailing situation is highly unsatisfactory and perpetuating the current uncertainty will only serve to provide an enhanced risk of litigious actions being launched. arc21 are disappointed the Department will only “follow progress” on the situation in England and Wales on the development of a MRF code of practice and the position they “may consider adopting a similar approach”. arc21 would urge the Department to be proactive in this regard. arc21 continues to contend that it is in Northern Ireland’s interest for central and local government to be directly involved in the development of such a document as the ability to influence the development and contents of it will be diminished over time. arc21 would again reiterate that we would advocate a proactive and participative approach. We acknowledge the commitment from the Department to develop a programme of work to deliver improvements in the quality of recycling as part of the Waste Management Strategy. It will be vital for this programme of work to take cognisance of possible implications flowing from the recent decision made by the Minister of the Environment to introduce a statutory recycling target of 60% by 2020 for local authority collected waste. Consultation Question The consultation asks one specific question: “Question: The purpose of this consultation is to clarify „separate collection‟ and to propose an amendment to the Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 to reflect this. Do you agree that the amendments proposed to the Regulations adequately transpose the requirements of the WFD? If not, please give reasons to support your view that it is not adequately transposed in the proposed amendments.” Response: arc21 is content that the proposed amendments adequately transpose the requirements of the Waste Framework Directive. .