Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       Members may recall that, at the November Committee meeting, an offer was made from Covanta to visit the new waste treatment facility in Dublin.  After a discussion, Members decided not to take up this offer and took the opportunity to request an update on developments from arc21.  This report has been drafted to provide an update and the three Members who represent the Council on arc 21’s Joint Committee have been invited to attend this evening’s meeting.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to note the report.

3.0       Main report

            Key Issues

3.1       arc21 was originally incorporated and established in 2003 after a process of ever-closer co-operation between its eleven constituent councils.  Following local government reform (LGR) in 2015, it was reconstituted as the waste management group representing the 6 councils in the east of Northern Ireland.  arc21 works on behalf of its constituent councils with their officers to procure contractors to assist the councils in meeting their statutory obligations and to develop innovative approaches to waste management.

3.2       Prior to being incorporated, in February 2002, arc21 issued a draft Waste Management Plan for public consultation which considered various options and proposed a series of recommendations regarding how a series of waste management treatment/disposal facilities could be procured for the region in an integrated manner to ensure that the region's waste could achieve compliance with the statutory waste targets which had been timetabled until 2020. 

3.3       The Plan was subsequently approved and adopted by the councils in 2003.  The Plan was reviewed in 2006, following further public consultation, and was approved by the Minister of the Environment and by the councils.  In early 2014, the latest update of the Waste Management Plan was consulted upon after which the Minister approved it in June 2014 before councils ratified this in October 2014.  In 2015, this version was amended to incorporate the geographical changes arising from LGR (see Figure 1).  This Plan takes account of the NI Waste Management Strategy entitled ‘Delivering Resource Efficiency’ published by the DOE in 2013.  A copy of the arc21 Plan is available at http://www.arc21.org.uk/download/1/arc21%20WMP%20Sep%2015%20wv.pdf

            Figure 1: arc21 and its constituent councils

3.4       Since its formation, arc21 has awarded and managed contracts worth over £260M on behalf of the constituent councils which cover (i) organic waste (compost) from brown bins, (ii) a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for the recyclates from blue bin (iii) landfills (iv) glass and textile banks (v) street sweeps (vi) supplies contracts (corn starch bags, bins, &c) and (vii) services contracts (H&S reviews, &c).

3.5       The work of arc21 has been developed by a Steering Group composed of a small secretariat and Directors, senior staff from the constituent councils which is then considered and approved by a Joint Committee comprised of 3 Members nominated from each of the 6 constituent councils (see Table 1).  This gives the Joint Committee a total of 18 Members.  Since its formation, this Committee has met over 155 times to discharge arc21’s work which is governed by a legally binding collaborative agreement between the councils.

            Table 1: Constituent councils’ representatives

3.6       While arc21 has focused on delivering contracts to maximise the opportunity of waste by ‘Reducing, Re-using and Recycling’, it’s not possible to do that for all councils wastes yet and a considerable amount of non-recycled/composted ‘residual’(black bin) waste remains.  At present, this is sent for treatment or disposal but, in line with ever-reducing annual targets, the amount of waste sent to landfill must fall until by 2020 only 35% of the amount disposed of in 1995 is disposed of in this manner.  Failure to achieve this could lead to fines which would ultimately have to be paid for by ratepayers.

3.7       Recognising this risk, the Plans adopted by the councils set out detailed proposals to use Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) and Energy from Waste (EfW) – technologies already widely used in GB and Europe – to manage this residual waste.  arc21 started a procurement exercise in 2008 to secure a contractor to develop these facilities to manage residual waste using an MBT, where some recyclates could be recovered, before the remaining material would be prepared as a ‘fuel’ with which an EfW plant could produce heat or electricity.

3.8       Following submission to the DOE of a planning application to develop these waste treatment facilities at Hightown Quarry, in September 2015 the Minister issued a Notice of Opinion that, if not responded to, would have resulted in permission being refused.  The Joint Committee subsequently endorsed a request for a Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) hearing to be called which was supported by arc21’s constituent councils.  This was held in October 2016 following which some additional information was requested.  In March 2017, the PAC report was issued to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) following which the Department granted planning permission for an MBT and EfW facility on13 September, 2017.

3.9       A local objector group was subsequently granted leave for a judicial review of this decision and this has just concluded (14 February).  The judge is currently considering the case but is expected to provide a ruling shortly.

3.10     Financial & Resource Implications

            None

3.11     Equality or Good Relations Implications

            None.”

            The Committee noted the update provided.