The Department of the Environment (DOE) in Northern Ireland has released figures indicating that the beginning of 2012 saw a six per cent drop in household waste and 5.2 per cent increase in household recycling.

The DOE’s twelfth annual report, (released 26 July) which examines the months January – March 2012, states that 194,472 tonnes of household waste were collected during the period, equivalent to 206,248 tonnes the previous year.

Environment Minister, Alex Attwood, congratulated residents on their efforts to reduce waste: “It is pleasing to see a further decrease in the waste generated by householders and I commend all those people diligently protecting our environment by reducing waste. Individuals and families play a vital role collectively in tackling waste. “

The report also cites household recycling as having risen from 70,313 to 74,003 tonnes over the same period. This brings the overall proportion of household waste collected for recycling by local authorities in Northern Ireland to 38.1 per cent.

Despite this, Attwood made it clear that the DOE do not intend to rest on their laurels,  adding: “…it is very encouraging to see a year-on-year increase in the recycling tonnage collected by the councils. We can, and I am confident we will, do much more. That is why I recently announced a 60 per cent recycling target for 2020. We will all need to make every effort, both at home and at work, if we are to achieve it. Whilst it is a long term challenge it’s the right thing to do for this and future generations.”

The annual report was written using data from the WasteDataFlow (WDF) system, which is utilised by all UK local authorities to collate reports on municipal waste.

The full report can be found on the DOE’s website.