Court Report

Managing Director bound over after pollution offence

The Managing Director of a Banbridge, Co Down business has been bound over in the sum of £500 for two years at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court after accepting responsibility for a polluting discharge to a waterway.

Halting the loss of biodiversity

From the desk of Alex Attwood, Environment Minister

When the Programme for Government was published in November much of the media coverage focused, on measures to boost our local economy. Closer inspection, however, will reveal that I have included an objective to work towards halting the loss of biodiversity. The inclusion of this objective in the Programme for Government demonstrates that the Department of Environment, and indeed the whole Executive, is taking very seriously its obligations to protect and enhance our rich biodiversity.

Taking on the challenge of greater reuse

By Dr Ian Garner, WRAP Northern Ireland Manager

At our Northern Ireland annual conference just a few weeks ago, one of our speakers gave an excellent insight into some of the work the charity sector has been doing in encouraging the reuse of unwanted items like clothes, furniture and bicycles.

Health and Safety First

By John R Quinn, Chair, Northern Ireland Centre of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management & Chief Executive arc21

Health and Safety in the Waste Industry is never far from the public consciousness and media attention. In particular, those activities which are perceived to have the potential to affect the environment and its inhabitants can understandably receive major scrutiny.