A new Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) has launched to stimulate the development of innovative remediation technologies for the Mobuoy Road waste site in Northern Ireland.

Funding for the SBRI competition has come from the Executive's Pilot SBRI Challenge Fund which is jointly managed by the Department for the Economy (DfE) and the Department of Finance.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)has allocated £350,000 to fund six projects in Phase 1 of the two phase competition. DAERA projects funded through the competition will inform, in part, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s (NIEA) remediation strategy for the Mobuoy Road illegal waste site in Co Londonderry.

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DAERA Minister Michelle McIlveen said: "The Mobuoy Road waste site presents a major environmental challenge which we need to address as a priority. The scale and complexity of the site will require an innovative approach.

"This research initiative competition provides an opportunity for companies to develop innovative environmental technologies and solutions and I look forward to learning of successes as the competition progresses.

"The development of innovative remediation treatments for Mobuoy and other illegal waste sites will contribute to finding a solution for reducing the negative environmental impact of such sites."

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said: "We recognise the importance of using the buying power of the public sector as a key driver of innovation within the economy. SBRI provides us with a proven method to achieve this. In particular, we have seen with the recent announcements on the joint DAERA, DfE poultry litter project how SBRI can act as a catalyst to help encourage innovative solutions to address difficult issues. I am sure this SBRI competition will also see new innovative solutions developed to support the Waste Management sector."

(CD)