New guidance for NI businesses is to help put industrial waste to good use - especially in the building sector.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) has just launched guidance for businesses to turn certain waste materials into valuable, high quality products.

The 'Pulverised Fuel Ash quality protocol' will help to divert one of Northern Ireland's major industrial waste streams from landfill.

It sets end of waste criteria for the production and use of pulverised fuel ash (PFA) and furnace bottom ash (FBA) arising from the combustion of coal, which can be used in bound and grout applications in construction and manufacturing.

The new guidance is the fourth quality protocol to be launched by NIEA this year through its Better Regulation Programme.

John McMillen, Chief Executive of NIEA said: "In Northern Ireland we produce around 85,000 tonnes of PFA and 25,000 tonnes of FBA each year. While most of the PFA produced in Northern Ireland is recovered and put to good use, under the EU Waste Framework Directive the end users had to pay for and conform with special permits to use it in construction and manufacturing.

"But now if they simply adhere to the new guidance this burden is removed.

"This can only serve to stimulate market growth and increase the availability of high quality, recycled material. The change is good for businesses and good for the environment," he said.

The Waste Protocols Project, which develops and governs the quality protocols, is a joint initiative between the Environment Agency in England and Wales and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).

It is funded by NIEA, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Welsh Assembly Government.

Dr Nichola Connery from NIEA's Better Regulation Team said: "In Northern Ireland we produce PFA and FBA through the combustion of coal for energy production.

"This new quality protocol sets the standard for the recovery and re-use of these materials in a way that ensures that human health and the environment are protected. At the same time it is providing a much-needed boost to Northern Ireland businesses," she said, noting that the new quality protocol offers significant opportunities for producers of PFA and FBA and for end-users within the construction and manufacturing industries.

"There is a wide range of uses for the product including cement manufacture, road construction, manufacture of ceramic tiles and bricks as well as paints, plastics and rubber," she concluded.

Financial impact assessments of this quality protocol have forecasted a potential benefit to the UK economy of approximately £110 million over the first ten years.

The environment will also benefit. An estimated 3,128,000 tonnes of waste will potentially be diverted from landfill sites across the UK. Further environmental benefits will arise through the use of the waste-derived products instead of virgin raw materials.

(BMcC/GK)