Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail the number of waste sites that are categorised by the NI Environment Agency as high risk, broken down by local council.
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) currently regulates approximately 550 authorised waste management facilities under the Waste Licensing and waste Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) regimes.
As part of its risk-based regulatory approach, NIEA assesses all authorised waste sites annually using an established risk assessment model to determine inspection frequency. The model considers a range of factors including the type and scale of activities undertaken, location, compliance performance and enforcement history.
In 2026/2027 the number of waste sites categorised by NIEA for as High Risk, broken down by local council area, is as follows:
- Antrim and Newtownabbey Council: 5
- Ards and North Down Borough Council: 0
- Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council: 6
- Belfast City Council: 3
- Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council: 2
- Derry City and Strabane District Council: 2
- Fermanagh and Omagh District Council: 0
- Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council: 3
- Mid and East Antrim Borough Council: 3
- Mid Ulster District Council: 2
- Newry, Mourne and Down District Council: 6
In addition to the annual assessment process, NIEA continually monitors emerging and changing risks. Inspection and enforcement resources are dynamically prioritised to respond to incidents, intelligence, poor performance, or other developing regulatory concerns.
ENDS
