To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for his assessment of the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on recycling rates across Northern Ireland.

To date, statistics have only been published covering the period to 31 March 2020. These figures for the rolling 12 month period have shown a 0.3% decrease from the previous quarter (October 2019 – December 2019). This reporting period covers a small portion of the start of the pandemic but is not enough to draw accurate conclusions on the impact of the crisis on recycling rates as a whole. Provisional information for household recycling during the quarter, April to June 20 will not be available until the end of October 20.

Northern Ireland is already well positioned in terms of recycling. Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the latest official statistics showed a provisional household recycling rate of 52.3% for the 12-month rolling period up to 31 December 2019. The EU 2020 target of 50% ‘waste from households’ recycling was also met in 2019. During the last decade the household recycling rate has increased by 15% points. In order to normalise recycling behaviours post-Covid and build on the momentum for recycling observed in recent years, communications and capital funding initiatives are being delivered to assist with recovery.