NI’s top venues making good use of food and garden waste

September 15, 2021

Thanks to the efforts of residents from across Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, material which was once treated as rubbish is now being transformed into a highly sought after product which is gracing some of Northern Ireland’s best known venues, including Killeavy Castle, Hillsborough Castle and Royal Portrush Golf Club.

It’s all down to people making good use of their brown bins and food caddies. With more and more of us putting food waste and garden clippings into the right bin, the council has been able to increase the amount of this waste which can be turned into high-grade compost.

This is good news for the environment, reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill and helps keep costs down for ratepayers. Councillor Andrew Ewing, Chairman of the council’s Environmental Services Committee, said: “Since Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council was formed, residents have done a brilliant job getting into the composting habit. Thanks to them the amount of material composted has grown every year, increasing by almost 40% since 2014/15.

“Last year we collected over 23,000 tonnes of organic waste which, after treatment, was transformed into just under 13,000 tonnes of compost. It’s now being put to good use, not just at the picturesque gardens at Hillsborough Castle, but also in a wide range of community projects across the Borough.”

The composting process is managed by Northern Ireland firm, National World Products (NWP) which receives brown bin waste from the council at its recycling facility. The waste is first checked visually to remove any non-organic materials. It is then mixed, shredded and pasteurised to destroy any harmful bacteria that might be present.

The final stage is screening and cleaning, resulting in a high-quality compost, ready to be used as an environmentally friendly fertiliser. This process takes around three months to complete.

The compost is sustainable, organic and peat free. Gardeners can purchase it directly from NWP, but it’s also used in bulk as a soil improver at some notable locations including Hillsborough Castle and Royal Portrush.

The compost has also been donated to community projects across Northern Ireland, including Friends’ School Lisburn where it is used to encourage the learning of new skills through outdoor play. It’s also used by Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council in towns and villages throughout the Borough for allotments and a range of community initiatives.

The organics contract with NWP is managed by arc21, the umbrella waste and resources management group made up of the six councils, including Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council. Tim Walker, arc21’s acting Chief Executive, said: “At a time when concerns about the environment and climate change have never been higher, it’s good to know that if we all take simple steps such as putting food waste in our brown bins we can make a real difference.

“Putting organic material into your brown bin and food caddies instead of your black bin helps cut down on greenhouse gas emissions produced by waste in landfill sites and it saves councils and ratepayers money. It’s also a great example of what the Circular Economy looks like, keeping materials in use rather than just throwing them away.”

Simple tips to reduce food waste even further include:

- Making shopping lists and planning what food will be used when, and freezing extra portions
- Being mindful of “Use By” dates on fresh food
- Using up leftovers, for example, vegetable peelings can be used to make stock

Subscribe to the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Binformation newsletter to receive important service updates along with useful hints and tips on recycling here: https://www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/resident/bins-and-recycling/get-the-latest-binformation

Councillor Andrew Ewing added: “We all have our part to play in the fight against waste and the impact it has on the environment. Recycling and composting is something which we can all do and I’m really encouraged at how well residents across the Borough have risen to the challenge.”