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Most recent data from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) shows that 271,501 tonnes of waste was collected by Northern Ireland’s councils during the three-month period from April to June 2024, up on the 267,107 tonnes collected during the same period in 2023.

To put the problem into perspective, this volume of waste weighs about the same as 22,500 double decker buses.

To tackle the challenge at hand, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful has unveiled an education and awareness campaign - A Better Way. Funded by DAERA through the Carrier Bag Levy, the campaign encourages us to explore the ways we can by reduce, reuse or repair items to significantly decrease the amount of waste we create.

Minister Muir said , “The prevention of waste is the most favourable option and as such is at the top of the Waste Hierarchy. Waste prevention saves money through more efficient use of materials, reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change, and supports the principles of a circular economy. I am keen to see our resources moved as far up the waste hierarchy as possible and welcome the impact that this campaign will have on changing waste prevention behaviours across Northern Ireland."

86.8 per cent of the waste collected by Councils between April and June 2024 was generated by households, with 15.4 per cent of this having to be directed to landfill. Whilst this figure is lower than the 19.8 per cent of waste sent to landfill between April to June 2023, the data reveals that Northern Ireland has an ongoing challenge with the sheer volume of what ends up in our bins, and the strain that managing this waste puts on our environment.

Eric Randall, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said, “Our A Better Way campaign highlights that we have the chance to make small and simple changes in our daily lives to reduce what goes in the bin, and what is directed to landfill. At present, the amount we are throwing away is indicative of a very wasteful culture. We need to challenge our perceptions of what waste is. Let’s explore the ways in which we can reduce, reuse and repair to turn the tide on waste in 2025.”

As part of the campaign, an official A Better Way mark has been developed, which retailers and wider organisations such as vintage clothing shops, alteration specialists, appliance repairs and others committed to doing better, can display. Repair Café Belfast have already signed up to don the mark, demonstrating that many see the value in A Better Way.

Aoife McCrory, Waste & Pollution Solutions Coordinator at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, highlighted some of the solutions that A Better Way initiates.

She said, “It is better for the environment and our pockets to cherish what we already have. Why not invest in reusable coffee cups and water bottles, designed for long-term use, to reduce the need to buy disposable items? Similarly, rather than throwing food jars away, use them as storage containers. Borrow or rent from friends and neighbours to reduce the need to buy new. Use refill stations to cut down on packaging, opt to go paperless when it comes to banking, repair tears on clothing. The better ways exist – but we need to show greater commitment.”

For more information and guidance visit keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

ENDS

For interview requests contact Navigator Blue:

Grainne Glenny | g.glenny@navigatorblue.com

Notes to Editors

Data referenced is from Northern Ireland Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste Management Statistics: Quarterly provisional estimates for April to June 2024. The report was published in October 2024.

https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/daera/lac-municipal-waste-q1-2024-25-report.pdf

The Fashion Forever Festival is returning to Belfast this Christmas to shine a light on the issue of textile waste in Northern Ireland and to provide solutions to help everyone explore reusing, repairing and reimagining their old clothes and fabrics this festive season.

The festival, now in its third year, will take place at 2 Royal Avenue on Saturday 21st December from 11am to 4pm. The jam-packed programme of events has been designed to introduce sustainable fashion concepts and designers in a fun and accessible way.

Fashion Forever, delivered by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) through the Carrier Bag Levy, is an awareness campaign that hopes to show the public the issues posed by mounting textile waste and the everyday behavioural changes that can help tackle the impact it has on our environment.

Alongside talks on the subjects of reusing, repairing and reimagining our textile waste, the event festivities will feature a plastic-free wrapping station, a visit from Sustainable Santa, a pop-up pre-loved styling boutique and swap shop, as well as a host of new-to-you clothing stalls, alongside exhibitions and mini workshops exploring the world of sustainable fashion.

Last year’s event saw hundreds of people visit the festival and the Fashion Forever team hopes that this year’s Christmas themed event will help their visitors tackle the waste challenges of the festive season.

Aoife McCrory, Waste and Pollution Solutions Coordinator for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and festival organiser said, “This time of year, represents a massive spike in the consumption of textiles and can generate a large amount of single-use seasonal garments and gifts. The Fashion Forever Festival aims to highlight how we think about textiles and all the changes we can make to reduce our impact.

Our fashion choices are having a hugely negative impact on Northern Ireland’s environment. One million tonnes of textiles are discarded each year across the UK, a third of which ends up in landfill, contaminating our natural resources and posing a threat to the health of those who live and work nearby. It’s time we all start to think differently and make small changes to the choices we make. We hope that this festival provides an opportunity for the public to see there are alternative ideas and solutions, which are beneficial to both their wardrobe and the environment.”

Research from Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful in 2023 shows that the public want to make better textile choices, with 17% of people surveyed buying second-hand clothing on a regular basis, and over 60% wanting to explore buying more pre-loved clothing rather than brand new. The charity hopes that the Fashion Forever Festival is the perfect opportunity to find new ideas and be inspired by those who are championing shopping sustainably.

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said: “Innovative and exciting initiatives such as Fashion Forever offer multiple benefits to people and the environment. The more we can do to encourage people to keep their clothes in use for longer or to reuse them, the better for all of us. Limiting fashion waste by buying pre-loved clothes helps us move towards a circular economy which helps protect the planet and the household purse.

“Thanks to the Carrier Bag Levy, DAERA can support this year’s festival. It will offer people the skills and knowledge to help them reimagine and reuse their existing clothes, prolonging the lifespan of their clothes, keeping them out of landfill and helping protect our precious environment.”

The Fashion Forever Festival is a drop-in event, no booking is required.

-ENDS-

For more information contact:

Aoife McCrory

Waste and Pollution Solutions Coordinator

aoife.mcrory@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org.

or

Maria McLaughlin

Communications Officer

maria.mclaughlin@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

Photo Caption: Aoife McCrory, Waste and Pollution Solutions Coordinator for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, launches the third Fashion Forever Festival at 2 Royal Ave Belfast.

This new guide focuses on Single-Use Plastic Reduction and the Circular Economy. In this guide, we explore practical strategies and steps to help businesses transition towards a circular model, where waste is prevented where possible, then minimised, resources are conserved, and single-use plastic is eliminated. By embracing these principles, your business can play a crucial role in creating a more sustainable future while benefitting from cost savings and enhanced brand reputation.

Read it at:www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org/businesses-tackling-plastic

Council commended for strong commitment to the waste hierarchy, emphasising waste minimisation, reuse, and recycling

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has been presented with a Zero Waste Award for its work on environmental initiatives that have gone that extra mile for waste management and sustainability in their local area.

The local government award, created by environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, aims to recognise and celebrate the efforts of councils in Northern Ireland in reducing the amount of wasted resources.

Chris Gourley, Waste and Pollutions Solution Lead at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful comments:

“We were particularly impressed by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s collaborative communication efforts with the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), their provision of reuse workshops, and engagement with social enterprises to rethink waste as a valuable resource. Moreover, support for local communities through initiatives such as community fridges, the Christmas Toy Container, School Uniform Scheme, and Cloth Nappy Scheme showcases their dedication to translating education and communication into tangible, on-the-ground actions that make a real difference.

Chris continues, “Winning the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful Zero Waste Award is a testament to the council’s hard work, innovative thinking, and commitment to sustainable practices. I would like to congratulate Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for all their efforts, which are committed to the ethos of reduce, reuse and recycle. We hope this award will go some way to building further sustainable practices that reduce environmental impact. Thank you to all the councils that submitted schemes. It’s very evident that there is lots of good work going on.”

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Alderman Gerardine Mulvenna, who received the award on behalf of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said:

“We are delighted to have achieved such an important ‘Zero Waste’ award 2023 with Tackling Plastic Northern Ireland. Now more than ever, we understand the importance of waste minimisation, re-valuing unavoidable ‘waste’ as a usable resource and to support a circular economy. We will continue to promote this to our residents and stakeholders, to engender behavioural change and to move away from a ‘throw away’ society.”

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful created the Zero Waste Award in 2022/2023 to reward positive local council contributions to sustainability and to recognise efforts in reducing the amount of wasted resources.

Councils in Northern Ireland have all signed up to the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful Plastic Promise which recognises that councils are in a position to lead, influence and make change. Each of the 11 Councils have pledged to reduce plastic waste by eliminating avoidable single-use plastics (SUPs) across services, offices, green spaces and events by employing the refuse, reduce, and recycle ethos; switching to alternatives wherever possible.

By achieving a Zero Waste Award, councils are able to celebrate and promote not only their successes, but they also have the opportunity to collaborate and extend their work with more suppliers and likeminded organisations.

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful is launching our policy for Single Use Plastics and Textiles. This document outlines the politics and future direction that we need to take in Northern Ireland. As a public representative, we want all levels of our government to pursue the sensible and deliverable policies outlined in it.

The aim of this policy brief is to support you in your work of changing Northern Ireland for the better.

We really have no more time to waste.

Read our policy in full.

Schools across the country have been tasked with taking on the Food Waste Challenge, run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA).

DAERA was delighted to recently report that Northern Ireland has achieved a 50% recycling rate across the country for all types of waste for the first time. New food waste legislation introduced last April has helped households reach this target, and so it is pertinent that this project is focusing on food waste in particular. Around 10 million tonnes of food, with a value of £17 billion, is wasted in the UK each year - 60% of which could be avoided.

Food is an expensive part of our weekly budget with families in Northern Ireland spending, on average, £64 every week on food. The food we waste can be worth up to one third of the value of our shopping spend. Across Northern Ireland we waste the equivalent of up to six meals per week. As such, food waste going to landfill is placing a strain on our purses and the environment, 20% of the UK’s CO2 eq. emissions comes from food and waste.

The Eco-Schools programme, run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, is a pupil-led, environmental education programme, which encourages a hands-on approach to creating a more sustainable school and home environment. With an estimated half of all waste in schools being food waste it is a really important issue to tackle.

Pupils will be asked to highlight the great resource that could be produced from recycling food waste, namely compost. Not only will pupils learn about the 3R’s of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling food waste, but they will also learn about the great benefits to the environment that making compost has too.

Owen Lyttle, Head of Waste Policy, DAERA said: “With more household waste being recycled now than being landfilled in Northern Ireland this Food Waste Challenge provides a timely reminder to families to keep up the good work. Christmas is just around the corner and now is a good time to re-emphasise the need to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle as much as possible. The Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs applauds the enthusiasm of all the schools and pupils involved in the Challenge through their Eco-Schools work.”

Ruth Van Ry, Environmental Education Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “We are delighted to be supported by DAERA in this Food Waste Challenge. It is a great opportunity for pupils to examine the issue and take real practical actions to make a positive change in school and at home. We are looking forward to seeing all the fabulous ideas they will have.”

Participating schools will have the chance to win prizes for their photos of school and home based actions. £200 for the best photo – in each council area - and a further £300 for the best overall school actions.

By participating in projects such as the Food Waste Challenge schools will be able to reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable as they work towards their prestigious, internationally recognised Eco-Schools Green Flag award. To find out more please visit www.eco-schoolsni.org.