Cork's Bottlehill - 20 years on what happens now?

It was to be one of the biggest landfills in the country but, having cost almost €50m, it has yet to receive an ounce of refuse, writes Sean O’Riordan

The entrance to the Bottlehill residual landfill site. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

In 2002, Cork County Council initially looked at three possible sites in Cork for a super dump. One was Bottlehill. The other two were in Grenagh and Watergrasshill. 

The plan was to create one of the biggest landfills in the country, capable of taking 217,000 tonnes of waste per year over a 20-year period.