Re-Gen Waste Ltd commended Newry, Mourne & Down District Council for its recycling success, as new quarterly data from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (DAERA) verified its best waste energy recovery and landfill rates to date.

Statistics released by DAERA, show that Newry, Mourne & Down District Council’s LAC municipal waste energy recovery rate, achieved for the July to September 2017 period, was 50.2 per cent from a household recycling rate of 46.25 per cent - at least triple that of the 10 remaining Councils in Northern Ireland.

The Council also recorded the lowest landfill rate at 4.9%, one sixth of the Northern Ireland rate of 29.5% and an improvement of 3.1 percentage points on the July to September 2016 rate for the council of 8.0%. The council reported an increase of 3.1 percentage points in household material prepared for reuse dry recycling and composting which would contribute towards this drop.

“We’re delighted to have played our part in assisting our local Council find a solution to increase their recycling rates and decrease their landfill rates,” said Joseph Doherty, Managing Director of Re-Gen.

One of Europe’s most advanced materials recovery facility (MRF) installations, Re-Gen has been working closely with Newry, Mourne & Down District Council to encourage local residents to recycle more, by providing a comingled (plastic, glass, paper, card, tins and cardboard) blue bin service. This has resulted in nearly half of their waste being reused and recycled, rather than ending up in landfill.

“Local Councils need to encourage the maximum number of people to recycle the maximum resources in their households,” said Joseph.

“In most recycling research, we are told that difficulty and convenience are the most significant factors in determining participation by householders. It is reflective of the wider populations’ mind-set. Ultimately the recycling service has to be both convenient and efficient in order for them to participate.

“We have found that household friendly schemes such as co-mingling recyclables in blue bins, are more preferable to residents than pre-sort schemes and that working with advanced MRF’s like Re-Gen, is actively improving recycling rates. We know what materials can be recycled and what can’t, who will take the waste and if we can get a second use.

“We make it easier to recycle household materials by offering local authorities a co-mingled blue bin sorting service, so ultimately less waste ends up in landfills or our waterways.”

Re-Gen recently invested heavily in a state of the art glass screening plant at their headquarters in Newry to improve the screening and cleaning of recycled glass, so rather than send it to landfill they can recover 95 per cent of the glass for recycling.

The company is uniquely positioned to accept and sort materials commingled with glass for customers and councils across Northern Ireland and the UK.

Mr Doherty continued; “Invention and innovation are the lifeblood of our young and dynamic company and we are determined that whatever the waste problem may be, we will help councils find a way to solve it. We offer sustainable solutions to domestic and commercial waste and are committed to a healthy environment for the next generation.”

To find out more about Re-Gen Waste go to http://www.regenwaste.com/about - sthash.UaZxEaBw.dpuf