AQW 9723/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 04/11/2020
Answered On Date: 23/08/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (i) what estimate he has made of the remaining capacity of landfill sites in Northern Ireland; and (ii) whether he has made an assessment of the timeframe for that capacity to be reached.

Answer:

Landfill sites in Northern Ireland are classified either as; hazardous, non-hazardous or inert waste as required under Article 4 of the Landfill Directive.

I can advise that the table below summarises the estimated remaining capacities in Northern Ireland by landfill type as of May 2021.

Landfill Type	Estimated remaining capacity (tonnes)
Non-Hazardous	4,809,241
Inert	15,176,282

There are two landfills in Northern Ireland permitted to accept hazardous waste. Collectively these have a total remaining capacity of 65,000m3

I am unable to give a definitive timeframe for NI capacity to be reached as this is dependent on a number of factors including waste generation, recycling and disposal rates as well as specific landfill conditions such as waste types received and compaction rates.