• General strategic principles / policies to meet targets or
• Waste management facility principles

arc21 fully endorses the hierarchy of waste management options (reduction, reuse, recycle, recovery, disposal) and will:

• promote the prevention and minimisation of waste within its own Council activities including green purchasing;
• promote producer responsibility within business, industry and the community;
• support initiatives that raise awareness of the waste hierarchy; and
• support projects that seek to remove barriers to reuse, recycling and recovery.

arc 21 has set out to achieve the following targets for household waste:

• Recover 25% of household waste by 2005, of which 15% is to be achieved through recycling and composting.
• Recover 40% of household waste by 2010, of which 25% is to be achieved through recycling and composting.

arc 21 has set out to achieve the following targets to reduce the quantity of biodegradable municipal waste disposed to landfill to:

• 85% of 1995 baseline levels by 2005
• 75% of 1995 baseline levels by 2010
• 50% of 1995 baseline levels by 2013 35% of 1995 baseline levels by 2020

arc21 will support measures to reduce the quantity of commercial and industrial waste landfilled to 85% of 1998 levels by 2005.

arc21 will support measures to reduce the quantity of construction and demolition waste landfilled to 85% of 1998 levels by 2005. Specifically it will:

• seek to ensure that proposals for development prioritise the reuse of clean excavated materials from construction projects, either within the project or otherwise as preparation for development, for land restoration or for site landscaping;
• support the use of recycled waste materials instead of natural aggregates within developments.

arc 21 considers that proposals for waste management facilities should be based on the guiding principles of:

• sustainable development;
• the waste hierarchy;
• the proximity principle taking into account the mode of transport or waste arising close to the boundaries of the Region;
• self-sufficiency for the Eastern Region taking into account the specific requirements of particular waste streams;
• reduction in the quantity of waste disposed to landfill; and
• the BPEO as set out in this Plan.

arc21 is committed to the delivery of a municipal waste management service adhering to the concept of Best Value and believe collaborative working arrangements between constituent councils are a vital component in the attainment of Best Value.

arc21 is committed to delivering a municipal waste management service that will have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity:

• between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation;
• between men and women generally;
• between persons with a disability and persons without;
• between persons with dependants and persons without;

and without prejudice to the above shall have regard to the desirability of promoting good relations between persons of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group.

arc 21 will encourage the adoption of best industry practice in the operation of all waste management facilities in the Eastern Region. Where a person is not operating to regulatory requirements there should be fair and even enforcement of the law to ensure high environmental standards.

arc21 will promote increased awareness of the issues surrounding the generation of waste and will advise business and the community on waste management practices to ensure all sectors of business, and the public are encouraged to achieve more sustainable waste management.

arc21 will support national waste awareness campaigns by actively promoting initiatives within the Eastern Region.

arc 21 will encourage participation by the private, voluntary and community sectors in initiatives to reduce waste arisings and to increase the use of sustainable waste management options for individual waste streams.

arc 21 will collaborate with the private and community sectors and other parties to manage waste arisings.

arc21 will:

• collaborate on measures to develop recycling and recovery schemes to meet immediate needs;
• collaborate with other sub-regions in the implementation of the Waste Management Plan and in development of facilities as appropriate.

arc 21 supports national market development initiatives, and as part of its education and awareness programme with industry will encourage their uptake by industry within the Eastern Region.

arc21 recommends that the DOE gives discretionary power to councils to financially incentivise recycling.

In establishing a network of facilities, consistent with the BPEO solution, for recycling, composting, recovery and disposal of waste in the Eastern Region arc21 will seek to ensure that all council areas within the Eastern Region enjoy reasonable access to waste management facilities.

arc21 will introduce pilot recycling schemes and support demonstration projects for the recovery and composting of municipal waste to assess suitability in terms of BPEO and investigate the potential for innovative technologies to contribute to the future waste management in the Eastern Region.

arc 21 will continuously review the distribution of bring sites and the range of wastes they can receive to ensure they meet the needs of those without transport and who are unable to utilise civic amenity sites, or are not in receipt of a kerbside collection service.

To ensure the adequate provision of bring sites for future waste management needs, arc21 supports the proposal that mini-recycling centres should be "permitted development".

Consistent with the Plan arc21 will increase the provision of composting and recycling facilities over the Plan period and introduce new treatment capacity to support more sustainable waste management.

There will be a presumption against the introduction of proposals for the thermal treatment of municipal waste until after year 2005 to enable the full potential of recycling and composting to be established.

arc 21 considers that sufficient landfill capacity should be provided for the Eastern Region to accommodate its own needs, based on continuous provision for the projected capacity requirements for the disposal of residual municipal and non-hazardous industrial wastes for a forward planning period of not less than 5 years.

There is an immediate need for further landfill capacity in appropriate locations to meet the needs of the Eastern Region. Having regard to the proximity principle, this capacity should be located at two or three locations within the Eastern Region.

arc21 supports the proposed changes to the UK Management Plan for the Import and Export of Waste, relating to the movement of waste between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where:

• it can be demonstrated to be the BPEO for a particular waste stream;
• it does not compromise the BPEO for the Eastern Region or impinge on the delivery of this Plan; and
• the approach is consistent with the policies of this Plan.