Cork council seeks tenders for €48m mothballed super dump
Groundworks were completed several years ago at the Bottlehill site, about 20km north of Cork City.
However, Cork County Council eventually decided the project would be economically unviable due to, at the time, an over-capacity of landfill sites throughout the country.
The council plans, within the next two weeks, to commence a tendering process for the use of the site.
The local authority envisages the site playing a major role in green energy initiatives but has not ruled out, long-term, its use for waste disposal or recycling.
Sharon Corcoran, director of environmental services, said during the past few months the county council had “put out feelers” to waste/green energy companies, about likely uses for the site, and did receive expressions of interest.
As a result of the feedback, she said the council would, within the next two to three weeks, put out official tenders for potential new projects at Bottlehill.
She advised county councillors there would be no further details made available about the companies which already expressed an interest, on the grounds of commercial sensitivities.
However, she gave a brief outline of the council’s expectations for future use of the site.
She believed Bottlehill would feature a mixture of landfill projects and an eco-energy park.
The eco-energy park, she said, could include wind turbines, as parts of the site is elevated and suitable for wind energy, as well as anaerobic food digesters.
The site has been designed for anaerobic projects where food waste would be converted to gas and electricity.
The site is close to major power lines which could easily connect Bottlehill to the national grid.
Ms Corcoran said the council would have been delighted to dispose of the site if it had received offers in excess of €40m, but no such offers had materialised.
“We need to get the best deal we can for the taxpayer and the country,” she said.
It had been planned, she said, to open the site for landfill in 2010. However, the economic slump allied to the glut of landfill space available led to its mothballing. She said some other local authorities had offered more cheaper alternatives.
In the interim, Cork County Council also sold off its waste collection service to private operators Country Clean.
The site has the capacity to bury 5.4m tonnes of waste.
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