Councillors want to reopen €50m Bottlehill to recycle construction waste

The repurposing of construction waste could save the council a fortune in maintenance costs

The entrance to Bottlehill Residual Landfill. The site was mothballed a number of years ago, when the council got out of the waste collection business.  Picture: Denis Minihane

Cork county councillors want to open a €50m mothballed landfill in Co Cork as a major centre for recycling specific types of waste, especially waste generated by the construction industry.

At present, there is no site in Cork to deal with construction and demolition waste, and councillors want to use the mothballed site at Bottlehill, near Mallow, for such a purpose.

However, to achieve this and other recycling measures they want introduced at the county’s civic amenity sites, they have to get permission from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), which they are now seeking.

The call for increased recycling came from the council’s Environment, Climate Action and Biodiversity special purposes committee.

Its chairman, Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry, said “too much lip service” is being given to the circular economy, and action was needed on it now.

Many councillors bemoaned the fact there is no facility in Cork to recycle construction waste and suggested the site at Bottlehill should be opened for this.

Fine Gael councillors Kevin Murphy, Michael Paul Murtagh, and Independent councillor Frank Roche said it makes no sense having Bottlehill lying idle when construction waste could be brought in there and ground up as ‘core base filling’ for new roads.

They said this could save the council a fortune in road maintenance, and cut down significantly on the carbon footprint of HGVs, which have to take construction and demolition material for disposal at EPA-approved sites in other counties. Mr Murphy said: 

We should open up Bottlehill to crush it (construction waste) and sell it off. It could be used as core for roads. It would save millions every year,” Mr Murphy said.

Independent councillor Marcia D’Alton said other European countries had been doing this with construction and demolition waste for years.

“Material is being moved to Waterford as we don’t have a facility in Cork, which is crazy,” Mr Barry said.

“It makes absolutely no sense to have Bottlehill lying idle,” Mr Roche said.

The landfill was mothballed some years ago, when the county council got out of the waste collection business.

Mr Barry also got support from colleagues to seek that the EPA grant the council more recycling opportunities at its civic amenity sites.

He said the local authority should be able to take in old bicycles and furniture, toys, and tools which could also be recycled.

Fianna Fáil councillor Audrey Buckley said that old schoolbooks should be added to that list. “There are thousands going to landfill, the wastage is crazy,” she said.

James Fogarty, the council’s deputy chief executive, said officials supported the councillors' recycling views, but they would need direction from the EPA.

Meanwhile, councillors backed a motion from Independent councillor Ben Dalton-O’Sullivan calling on the Government to immediately review the introduction of the proposed concrete block levy.

“Like many other councillors in Cork County Council, I deal with a significant number of rural planning permissions. Young couples in touch with me are incredibly worried about this proposed levy," he said.

The cost of building a house is already high. This is going to further add to the cost.

“Developers are not going to absorb this cost. It is going to be passed onto the first-time buyer who is already struggling in the market. I feel the government really need to rethink this,” he added.