To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for his assessment of the impact of the booking system at council recycling centres on levels of illegal dumping.

The booking systems currently in operation at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC’s) were introduced and are managed by the various councils across Northern Ireland.

The purpose of these booking systems is to enable social distancing at HWRC’s whilst assisting members of the public to safely deposit waste and recyclables. The systems also assist in the avoidance of traffic build-up at or near these sites and enables staff to monitor waste being deposited and therefore helps maximise recycling.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is unable draw any direct correlation between the councils booking system and levels of illegal dumping.

Illegal waste activity can be influenced by a number of factors which cannot be looked at in isolation. Current trends would indicate that the volume and types of illegal waste disposal incidents being reported to the NIEA appear to be on a par with pre-COVID levels before the booking systems were introduced.