NI RDF exports reach 16 per cent of UK total as rest of country cuts shipments. Northern Ireland accounted for 16.1 per cent of the UK's total refuse-derived fuel exports in 2025, shipping 302,000 tonnes to European EfW plants, according to data from independent analysts Refynix. The region's exports rose five per cent year on year while the UK total fell 13 per cent.

Scotland exported 25,000 tonnes of RDF in 2025, down from 100,000, while Wales exported 47,000 tonnes. Northern Ireland has no operational energy-from-waste capacity, compared with 64 fully operational EfW plants elsewhere in the UK and a further 11 in construction or commissioning. Over 85 per cent of NI's waste exports pass through Warrenpoint port, where RDF storage has generated persistent odour complaints and political fallout since 2024.

Indaver, the European waste management company behind the proposed £250 million arc21 residual waste project, said the data proved Northern Ireland was an outlier. Colin O'Hanlon of Indaver said the project required only a Department for Infrastructure ministerial planning decision to progress to the next procurement stage, where arc21 councils would make a democratic decision on whether to proceed.

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