In 2017 Northern Ireland's recycling rate was 46.3%, but with the introduction of mandatory food waste collection, Northern Ireland has now raised that number to 50%. RiverRidge has seen the rise in recycling with 1,152,000 million bins lifted in 2019, which worked out around 96,000 bins per week and 370,000 metric tonnes of Household, Commercial and Industrial Waste being lifted.
What some commercial companies in Northern Ireland are not aware of however is the Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s legislation that came in place in 2015, requiring all businesses that generate more than 5kg of food waste must have a separate food waste collection. This legislation applies to any commercial business in Northern Ireland.
For most companies with more than five employees, this legislation will apply to them, whether you own a restaurant, a tech company or law firm, you are required to dispose of your waste under these regulations.
Food Waste RiverRidge Collects:
What You Cannot Put Into Your Food Waste Bins:
Our service offering is built around the efficient, cost-effective and auditable delivery of the following three key functions:
RiverRidge is the only waste management company in Northern Ireland today, who can provide all three functions using their own resources.
This allows us to confidently provide assurances to our customers of the service levels being achieved and most importantly the end destinations of all waste and residual waste streams.
RiverRidge hold four Transport Hubs across Northern Ireland
We own a fleet of over 170 vehicles and trailers:
Operating System
Our process speaks for itself, the time and care we put into ensuring Northern Ireland’s waste is ethically disposed of and informing our customers every step of the way. Our Weightsoft system allows us to give our customers live and accurate bin weighting results in accurate waste reporting and monthly waste reports will be sent to give an in-depth analysis of the material collected per site, per waste stream.
On top of that, RiverRidge operates three of the most advanced waste treatment facilities across Northern Ireland.
The award-winning flagship facility, based in Garvagh, includes treatment infrastructure including a waste drying plant and the newly developed wash plant, which is the first of it’s kind across Europe.
Our treatment philosophy is based on the Waste Treatment Hierarchy and is founded on avoiding the use of landfill as a disposal option.
The treatment of any waste received into our facilities firstly involves the extraction of reusable or recyclable materials.
Then any residual waste remaining after this process is converted into what is known as a refuse-derived fuel. These fuels are sent to various energy recovery facilities who use them to substitute the use of fossil fuels.
A large part of RiverRidge’s competitive advantage is built around its capacity to engineer highly refined RDF ( Refuse Derived Fuels) grades as well as being a key shareholder in Northern Ireland’s only large scale Waste to Energy Facility.
RDF grades are determined by the level of moisture and contamination remaining in the fuels at the end of the process.
RiverRidge is the single largest producer of RDF fuels in Northern Ireland and the only manufacturer of Cement Kiln Grade and Gasification Grade fuels.
If you would like more information on Northern Ireland’s Food Waste Legislation or how RiverRidge can help you, contact one of our sales team members!
Find out more about Northern Ireland’s Food Waste legislation
Check out our informational video about the Northern Ireland Food Waste Legislation:
