Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd is soon expected to give fresh consideration to the proposal to build an incinerator at Mallusk on the outskirts of north Belfast.
Arc21, the group representing six local councils backing the controversial publicly-owned, privately-operated energy-from-waste plant, hopes a planning decision on the long-delayed project will be made early in the new year.
First submitted more than a decade ago, the application has faced a series of legal challenges and was refused planning permission by former infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon in 2022.
The High Court quashed that decision in May last year, with a barrister for Ms Mallon’s former department conceding that refusal “was not accompanied by sufficient rational reasons”.
News of the revised application, which includes a fresh environmental statement, comes at it emerges that the amount of waste being shipped out of Northern Ireland for incineration has more than doubled in the past five years.
The latest figures show that 281,660 tonnes of council collected waste is being “exported” as what is referred to as refuse derived fuel (RDF), with the majority ending up in Scandinavia.
Warrenpoint port, currently at the centre of a dispute over foul odours, is the main departure point for most of the material being shipped overseas.
More than two-thirds of the total exported RDF leaves through the Co Down port.
Around one-sixth of the total – some 46,000 tonnes – goes across the border by road to be burnt for energy in the Republic.
In an audit office report earlier this year, it was noted that “exporting waste to countries which process and financially benefit from the waste, represents a potential loss of revenue for Northern Ireland”.
Arc21 said exporting waste means “all the economic benefit of energy recovery from predominantly biodegradable waste is lost to Northern Ireland’s economy”.
The local government-backed group said its incinerator at Hightown quarry offered a “long-term solution to a long-term problem”.
A spokesperson said recent policy developments, including increases in landfill tax, meant “we can no longer rely on landfill for disposing of residual municipal waste”.
“Multiple movements and handling of wastes increases the vulnerability of irregular practices and auditing of a waste final destination more difficult,” the spokesperson said.
“The export of the majority of Northern Ireland’s waste means all the economic benefit of energy recovery from predominantly biodegradable waste is lost to Northern Ireland’s economy.”
A spokesperson said the delivery of an energy-from-waste plant was a “recommendation of the Mills Report following the Mobuoy illegal landfilling scandal”.
Mr O’Dowd’s department said it could not confirm when the minister would make his recommendation on the application but that it would be considered “when all statutory processes are satisfactorily completed”.
In relation to the increase in waste for incineration exports, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said its role was to “ensure compliance under the EU shipment of waste regulations, which involves formal notifications and the consent of all countries involved.
“The department does not have any role or responsibility for costs associated with the export of waste for incineration and this is a commercial matter for the entities involved in this process,” the spokesperson said.
