§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place in Northern Ireland to ensure compliance with the EU Directive regarding the disposal of fridges and freezers; and if he will make a statement. [162693]
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§ Angela SmithThe Department of the Environment has been working in partnership with District Councils in Northern Ireland to put in place a contract to dispose of waste fridges and freezers collected from Council civic amenity sites.
The contractor operates a fully licensed facility in Great Britain, where the waste units are demanufactured, removing and destroying the ozone depleting substances they contain, in line with the requirements of the EU Regulation, while recycling almost all of the remainder of the constituent parts.
The use of a smart tagging system, together with independent monthly checks on the amount of ODS recovered; provide an end-to-end audit trail to demonstrate full compliance with the EU Regulation.
All the Councils in Northern Ireland have signed up to the contract and work has begun on removing the backlog of waste units.
§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to implement waste management plans in Northern Ireland, broken down by each area; and if he will make a statement [162694]
§ Angela SmithThe three District Council Waste Management Partnership Groups (arc 21, Swamp and North West Region Waste Management Group) have prepared Implementation Action Plans (IAPs), which have been submitted to the Department of the Environment. These Plans detail the steps and expenditure required to implement the Waste Management Plan for each group. The Department has provided guidance to the District Councils on Key Performance Indicators to monitor progress towards the key targets identified in the Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy. The IAPs are the subject of ongoing review to ensure that appropriate measures are implemented to meet these key targets.