Natural World Products (NWP) has been awarded a £17million contract to help Councils recycle household waste, it was announced today.
NWP has teamed up with eight local council areas, known collectively as Southern Waste Management Partnership (SWaMP). It is estimated that 22,000 tonnes of bio-waste and green waste will be recycled per year as part of an eleven year recycling contract.
Caolan Woods, Director of NWP shows Graham Byrne, Director of SWaMP and Councillor Francie Molloy Chairman of SWaMP how green waste from households will be recycled into high quality compost known as Rosey Lee Organic Compost.
NWP will recycle the bio-waste, the equivalent of approximately thirty football pitches filled one-metre deep, generated from households in local councils including Armagh, Banbridge, Cookstown, Craigavon, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Newry and Omagh. The contract will secure employment for forty current NWP employees and is expected to create a further fifteen jobs locally. NWP recently invested £2million in its main recycling facility which included sourcing the latest composting technology from the Netherlands.
“Previously such bio-waste was disposed of through landfills, areas set aside for the burial of waste. This creates harmful emissions such as methane gas which is twenty times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide,” said Councillor Francie Molloy Chairman of SWaMP. “The contract awarded to NWP will have the effect of reducing the negative environmental impact of bio-waste. By recycling such waste, Councils within the SWaMP region will be able to meet the stringent recycling targets set out under EU legislation and ensure that hefty fines are not applied - thus avoiding an extra burden on ratepayers.”
Graham Byrne, Director of SWaMP said: “We are delighted to award a long-term contact for the treatment of bio-waste and green waste material to NWP after a competitive tendering process. This contract demonstrates the benefits which can be derived from a joint procurement process for both Councils and ratepayers.”
NWP currently uses world class technology to transform green waste such as garden clippings, collected in Council brown bins, into high grade compost which is distributed under the NWP brand Rosey Lee Organic Compost to garden centres throughout Ireland. Recycling bio-waste using this technology shortens the recycling period from twelve to six weeks. This provides greater efficiency in both the composting process and control over the release of waste by-products to the environment. By producing compost in this way it significantly reduces the reliance on non renewable resources such as peat which has to be is ripped up by mechanical diggers - destroying a unique natural habitat for many species of plants and animals.
“Our partnership with SWaMP highlights the very tangible commitment and positive contribution that local Councils are making to the environment. The benefit of composting goes further than meeting recycling targets set by Europe. In effect, by recycling, we are investing in the well being and environment for future generations,” said Brendan Woods, Managing Director of Natural World Products. “We all must continue to improve our attitudes to recycling and contribute to its positive impact on the environment. This initiative with SWaMP is a very big element of this work and ensures that bio-waste disposed of by households, in the SWaMP region, is now recycled and reused.”