DURING this year’s Recycling Week (Monday 20th – Sunday 26th September), leading waste management company, RiverRidge, reaffirmed its commitment to step up the progression of its treatment capabilities and to enable the realisation of Northern Ireland’s recycling and carbon reduction targets.
Whilst significant progress has been made in recent years with improved recycling rates, there is still too high a reliance on landfill in Northern Ireland and more needs to be done through better waste management to address the current climate crisis. RiverRidge confirmed this week that it stands ready to help Northern Ireland’s local authorities reduce their reliance on this archaic form of waste disposal.
The theme of this year’s Recycling Week is ‘Step it Up’, which is something that RiverRidge’s CEO, Brett Ross is encouraging Northern Ireland to do. Brett said, “Now is the time for change – we must move forward, rethinking the resources that we are using, and work towards the 2035 recycling targets that must be met.”
Brett continued, “This Recycling Week, we are encouraging everyone to get involved in helping Northern Ireland reach its recycling target of 65% by 2035. RiverRidge will continue doing what we can to help reach this target, however we do need to see increased engagement between the public and private sector to stop the landfilling of untreated household waste, and step up our service provision to our commercial customers to help them maximise their recycling opportunities.”
RiverRidge is unique in that it provides a service to every sector of the Northern Ireland economy, ensuring that waste is collected and treated in the most carbon efficient manner.
The company has played a critical role in Northern Ireland’s waste sector in recent years thanks to its innovative approach to waste management. In addition to constructing the first and only waste to energy facility in Northern Ireland, RiverRidge has announced plans to progress its ‘Waste to Vehicle fuel’ project, which will see the conversion of household residual waste into a compressed natural gas that will subsequently be used to power its own fleet of vehicles.
RiverRidge is also exploring a number of different waste treatment alternatives and has invested significantly to explore their viability. This includes the conversion of previously regarded unrecyclable plastic wastes into industrial lubricants and waxes. By redirecting this material away from incineration, the company will substantially reduce the carbon footprint associated with the treatment of plastic waste.
Innovation will continue to be key in the months and years ahead to ensure that Northern Ireland maintains its goal of reaching the current recycling and zero-carbon targets, but it’s also imperative that key organisations and personnel play their part.
Brett concludes, “RiverRidge is committed to transparency in relation to its journey to decrease carbon emission and plans to publish its ESG strategy, to include performance and targets, in the coming months.”
