Landfill

Landfill in Northern Ireland is currently in a state of flux.

Firstly Waste Management Licences, formerly issued by councils, were transferred to the Environment and Heritage Service (now the Northern Ireland Environment Agency NIEA) a few years ago.

Secondly, Waste Management Licenses are being replaced by PPC (Pollution, Prevention and Control) permits. These new regulations are aimed at bringing in tighter controls.

In a 2005 report commissioned by the Belfast Hills Partnership, the North of Ireland had over 100 licensed landfills, of which 38 of these were located in Belfast.  Some 15 licensed landfills were found within the Belfast Hills Partnership's operational boundary (excluding Cottonmount, Aughrim and Mullaghglass).

When compared to similar locations on the edge of Dublin, for example, there were significantly higher levels of waste activity in the Belfast Hills than the Wicklow and Dublin Mountains. 

In County Dublin there were five licensed landfill sites and to the north, Fingal County Council had two waste facilities. 

After licence permits were issued for Mullaghglass, Aughrim and Cottonmount treatment facilities (Cottonmount is approx 2km outside the Belfast Hills study area) the permitted levels for municipal waste in the Belfast Hills were estimated to be in the region of 66 per cent of the total NI level.

Illegal Waste

The 2005 report suggested that illegal landfill waste in Northern Ireland was in the region of 0.5 million tonnes per year. 

Throughout the whole of Northern Ireland, there was a ratio of one waste facility per 75km2 in comparison to one facility per 10.6km2 for the greater Belfast area. By contrast, the Belfast Hills area had a higher density of waste facilities with a ratio of one site per 2.7km2.