Environment Minister Arlene Foster has told Northern Ireland businessmen that they have an important role to play in meeting three big challenges for waste management. Speaking at the Confederation of Business Waste Management Seminar, the Minister stressed that the development of a new waste infrastructure, the impact of legislation and the need to recycle were the big issues facing the whole community and business.
Her department has already put in place the framework for meeting these challenges through the Sustainable Development Strategy and the Waste Management Strategy. In addition, the £200 million Strategic Waste Infrastructure Fund has been allocated by the Executive to support local government in diverting waste from landfill, which would help enable Northern Ireland to comply with EU legislation and meet statutory targets.
Minister Foster commented, "The fund will also create new construction, engineering and waste management jobs. In the broadest sense, waste infrastructure investment will help to make our lives better by protecting the environment. But it will also increase prosperity by adding a new dynamic to the economy. We need not, and should not, view the challenges ahead as something imposed upon us which we have to overcome. We should see them as an opportunity to lay foundations for a better environment and a more prosperous community."
