The grant will secure the future employment of 40 NWP staff locally.
Ian Garner, WRAP’s manager for Northern Ireland, said: “Meeting the current and future challenges of recycling waste in Northern Ireland is important for not just for the local environment but also the economy. We have made a significant investment in the capital costs of NWP’s recycling facility which will take Northern Ireland’s recycling capacity to a higher level.”
Director of NWP, Caolan Woods, said: “We were facing a shortfall in funding and receiving the WRAP grant has secured the development of the project with construction on the site located on the old Glenside quarry to be completed by 2010. In addition to the grant, NWP is making a GBP4.5 million investment which will create a dozen new jobs and includes an innovative partnership with the Colin Glen Trust to develop an environmental centre of excellence with its own outreach educational officer who will promote the values of recycling and environmental protection to school children in the local area.”
A total of 60,000 tonnes of organic waste will be recycled annually at the facility to produce high quality compost which will be sold in garden centres and used as top soil for some of Ireland’s golf courses. This will reduce harmful CO2 emissions in Northern Ireland by 25,000 tonnes a year.
Ian Garner also said that when the plant opens it will significantly improve Northern Ireland’s ability to meet stringent EU recycling targets, which if met will mean we avoid hefty fines that would be placed on local Councils.
“We urgently need to divert more biodegradable waste from landfill and by March 2011 WRAP plans to invest in more facilities across the UK so that another 400,000 tonnes can be processed every year across the UK. NWP’s facility will go some way to ensuring that Northern Ireland is making a significant contribution to this target.”
