On the night before the 12 July huge bonfires of wooden pallets and tyres are ignited in Protestant areas in the North to mark the highlight of the Orange Orders marching season.
The fires, traditionally topped with a tri-colour, give off huge amounts of pollutants and some loyalist areas have already banned them on safety grounds.
Belfast City Council has started testing steel beacons filled with wood chippings as a less polluting alternative.
The beacons cost several thousand pounds each.
Stormont Environment Minister Sammy Wilson of the DUP, said the move was not designed to undermine tradition, but to replace bonfires which are becoming environmental liabilities.
