Northern Ireland targets CO2 reduction with its recycling efforts

Northern Ireland’s government-supported recycling programmes saved 4.5% more CO₂ emissions in 2014/15 than the previous 12-month period, according to Eunomia Research & Consulting’s latest Recycling Carbon Index.

77% of Northern Irish councils showed an upward trend and the total CO₂ saving was 123,000 tonnes, or 68 kilograms (150 pounds) per capita. That enabled Northern Ireland to overtake England where just less than half of councils improved on the previous year’s results – but a similar number slipped back, leaving the CO₂ savings at 67 kilograms (147.7 pounds) per capita.

Recycling in England, Wales and Northern Ireland resulted in 3.9 million tonnes of CO₂ savings in 2014/15, the equivalent of flying from London to New York and back 1.5 million times, says Eunomia.

According to Eunomia’s Recycling Carbon Index, England still has the leading carbon saving council, Cheshire West and Chester. A high recycling rate and a source separated collection system that minimises the need for energy-intensive sorting of recyclable material meant the council achieved a saving of 109 kilograms (240 pounds) per person. The best performer in Wales was Ceredigion Council at 104 kilograms (229 pounds).

Across the board, the total CO₂ saving is up over 20,000 tonnes from 2013/14, but the picture across the three nations is mixed. Wales maintains a significant lead over its neighbours, and 64% of Welsh councils improved their performance in 2014/15. The Welsh Government has put a real focus on trying to improve recycling rates, and as a result no authorities in Wales are now ranked as “poor performers,” according to Eunomia.

“Progressive waste management policies, devolved governments and new collection systems are having a positive impact on the CO₂ performance of recycling systems,” says Eunomia’s director, Joe Papineschi. “Amidst some mixed results, there are some really outstanding stories. For example, councils collected 8% more food waste last year than in 2013/14 – despite only 37% offering separate food collections.”

Eunomia’s rating system tabulates the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that are prevented as a result of local residents’ recycling efforts. The index offers an alternative to tonnage-based recycling rates in assessing the performance of councils’ collection systems, as the climate change impact of different materials varies greatly, according to the firm. An authority that collects a lot of green garden waste but less paper and packaging may have a high recycling rate but will be ranked lower in the Carbon Index because a high volume of carbon is saved from recycling materials such as metals, plastics and paper.