Newry Armagh Sinn Féin Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

RECYCLING MARKET COLLAPSE CAUSE OF GREAT CONCERN

Published: 18 November, 2008

Newry and Mourne Councillor Packie Mc Donald has said that the potential collapse of recycled waste markets would see the scenario of Newry and Mourne Council actually burying in landfill materials like newspapers and cardboards. "Not only will we see the likelihood of materials going into landfill but there is every possibility that thousands of tones of rubbish collected from household recycling bins may have to be stored in places like warehouse. "The facts are that some collection companies are running out of space to store paper,plastic bottles and steel cans because prices are so low that the materials cannot be shifted" said the Sinn Féin Councillor. His colleague and Sinn Féins local spokesperson on Environmental issues Councillor Pat Mc Ginn commenting on the issue explained that the plunge in prices was caused by a sudden fall in demand for recycled materials especially from China, as manufacturers reduced their output in line with the global economic downturn. He said that Councils were sleepwalking into the crisis. "We are likely to see growing mountains of waste paper, metal and plastic bottles. There's nowhere for these materials to go at the moment. It's rapidly becoming a very serious problem" said the Councillor who continued "The problem will be exacerbated by the Christmas festivities, when a surge of packaging materials and drinks containers would fill recycling bins". The Fews area Councillor said that whilst some might argue that Councils were facing problems in the short term because they were reliant on market rates and that it was too early to speculate as to the longer term impact on the disposal of waste and on council finances, there needed to be serious discussion and a strategy prepared for all eventualities. "It cannot be a quick but costly fix like incineration. That in actual fact would make the whole ethos and mantra of "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" as complete lie" he concluded