Should we start separating all recyclables at home?

A Stormont consultation on recycling proposals in Northern Ireland has just ended

Across Northern Ireland, almost one million tonnes (1bn kg) of household waste were collected in 2022/23, and about half went for recycling.

But the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) wants us to do more.

A consultation on new proposals to improve how and how much we recycle has just ended.

The plans include standardising recycling collections across Northern Ireland and streaming our waste - separating out the dry recyclables so that glass isn't mixed with paper, card and cans.

Supporters have said that would increase our recycling rates, keep more material in Northern Ireland to support businesses and help build a green economy.

But opponents said it would mean more bins, more cost for councils and more hassle for householders.

What is Northern Ireland's recycling rate?

Northern Ireland is good at recycling, just behind the Welsh.

The majority of councils have a system, where all dry recyclables like paper, card, cans and glass go into one bin.

Non-recyclable waste and food and garden waste are each collected in their own bins and some areas have kerbside collections.

All this has helped us go from recycling 10% of our waste to just under 50% over the course of 20 years.

But we need to do better - we have a target of recycling at least 70% of our waste by 2030.

That means making massive progress in a little over five years, and everyone agrees something needs to be done to achieve that.

They just differ on exactly what.

Workers at Re-Gen Waste sift through waste for recyclable material

Joseph Doherty's family started Re-Gen Waste in Newry two decades ago.

Material collected from recycling bins all over Northern Ireland - about 130,000 tonnes (130m kg) - is brought there, along with some from elsewhere in the UK and from the Republic of Ireland.

But Mr Doherty is concerned that the consultation focused on the idea of separating waste.

"Every household in Northern Ireland would be a recycling system where they would sort at the house and have to do the work," he told BBC News NI.

"Whereas we do that work here in a controlled environment and a manufacturing environment and that allows us to make the best value of the product.

"People need convenience, and I think this is the most convenient way of doing it."

Joseph Doherty says keeping recycling in one bin is more convenient

Another worry is the effect the proposals could have on his business which employs 500 people.

"We believe that preferred option could cost the Northern Ireland ratepayer £1bn over seven years - I don't think that makes sense," he added.

Separating 'could be colossal for carbon impact'

Some 60 miles away, at the Encirc bottle-making plant in Derrylin, Fiacre O'Donnell disagrees.

He says making recycling convenient but adding "just that little extra step of separating it into a particular material type" will yield colossal potential carbon impacts.

Once crushed into what's called cullet, the recycled glass is stacked in huge piles around the County Fermanagh site.

Encirc's Fiacre O'Donnell

But because quality is so important in this process, much of the cullet has had to be imported, rather than directly using glass from household bins.

"As one ship's going out with glass, we're having to bring another ship then to compensate for what we're losing," Mr O'Donnell said.

Every single bottle in the world that contains a certain Irish cream-based liqueur is made at this plant, along with millions of other green and white bottles.

The cullets here will eventually be transformed into bottles

Mr O'Donnell is convinced they can do more.

"We are using raw materials at colossal rates at the minute, and yet we have a number of products that we can use again and again, glass being one of those," he says.

"It's infinitely recyclable, so why would we waste it in any way?"

No time to waste

Nicola Carruthers, a spokesperson for Keep Recycling Local, says the time is right to reconsider how we are managing our waste.

"At the minute, Northern Ireland currently exports around about 91,000 tonnes (91m kg) of recyclable material to Europe, to Taiwan, to Hungary - all around the world, every year," she says.

"What the proposals say is that they want to keep glass separate, they want to keep paper and card separate and they want to keep plastic and metal separate."

Nicola Carruthers works for campaign group Keep Recycling Local

"And then there are separate proposals for food and garden waste that they also want to keep separate because of the cost of reprocessing, it's much much cheaper if they're separated out."

She said there is an economic tightrope to be walked, but separated recycling can be sold at a higher price to companies so councils could save "millions of pounds per year".

"We haven't got time to waste."

How does Northern Ireland compare?

Wales recommended a segregated system for recycling in 2011.

All food waste is separated and the majority of councils use a stacking bin so that dry recyclables are kept apart and streamed.

And though it started with a recycling rate of 9% in 1997, Wales has now been named the world's second best for recycling.

Experts say they reached this by working together and thinking about the benefit for the whole country - not just thinking about the cost.

What's next for recycling in NI?

The thrust of the consultation is clear - Daera wants a streamlined, standardised collection system that will simplify recycling, potentially boost rates and create new green jobs.

But this is also asking the public to step up and do more, and waste management companies to change their practices.

Providing clear direction is crucial, but such a change would not come cheaply.

Some will argue that spending that money when there is an adequate system already in place is taking support away from other sectors that are crying out for it, like health and education.

But the counter argument is that making our recycling system more local will reduce emissions, create jobs and ultimately build the economy in a circular and sustainable way by enabling material to be processed and repurposed in Northern Ireland.

The agriculture minister has been clear - he wants recycling to be "an integral, yet simple, everyday activity".

Based on the consultation responses, he will have to make the decision between whether that means putting everything recyclable in one bin, or asking the public to help build a circular economy.