Our rubbish will be sent across water

Our rubbish will be sent across water

3 February 2016

THOUSANDS of tonnes of rubbish collected across the district are to be shipped out of Northern Ireland for incineration as part of a radical new waste management plan.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council has sanctioned the move — which will cost ratepayers in the region of £360,000 a year — following a series of secret meetings to discuss the future of the Drumanakelly landfill site near Seaforde which is to close in the spring.

Black bin waste will continue to be taken to the council-owned dump but instead of being buried, it will be left at a new waste transfer station which was recently approved by local planners. The waste will then be loaded onto 40 foot lorries and transported to Warrenpoint docks.

There, a private firm which specialises in renewable energy, will sort through the waste to salvage any material which can be recycled before it is loaded on to large ships and transported out of Northern Ireland. The Recorder understands the waste will be taken for incineration to the north east of England.

Council officials are currently tendering for contractors to build the new waste transfer station at Drumanakelly along with a contract to transport the waste from Seaforde to Warrenpoint.

They have ruled out the local authority transporting the waste to Warrenpoint given the scale and logistics of such an operation and the amount of time bin lorries would spend ferrying waste to the port, seriously impacting on their ability to complete collection rounds on time.

The landfill site is expected to close in April, with work well underway to put in place alternative arrangements for the treatment and disposal of black bin waste. Staff who currently work at Drumanakelly are expected to be redeployed within the local authority’s waste management department.

When the last of the black bin waste is dumped at the landfill site the area will be capped with tonnes of top soil, with modern equipment already in place to deal with any leachate, a liquid which oozes from waste material.

Members of the local authority’s Regulatory and Technical Services Committee discussed the future of the Drumanakelly landfill site in a behind-closed-doors meeting two weeks ago and are due to meet again in secret to discuss a report currently being compiled on the dump’s final closure details.

Politicians have been told a four-year agreement is in place with the private firm to handle the district’s black bin waste, with an option to extend it for an additional 12 months. 

A council spokeswoman confirmed the organisation’s landfill site is approaching its final capacity for acceptance of black bin waste. She said it is anticipated Drumanakelly will close for this waste in April or May, with final capping then taking place as part of the restoration plan for the site. 

“As part of the closure plan, black bin waste collected by the Council will subsequently be diverted for processing and treatment and a proposal detailing a recommendation on exactly how this should happen will be considered by the full council this month,” she continued.

The spokeswoman added: “The proposed treatment process involves the removal of recyclable material from the waste with the remainder being used as a refuse derived fuel.

“While the landfill site will be closed in terms of residual waste acceptance, the transfer station at Drumanakelly will still be operational for the movement of organic and recyclable materials.”