Last lorry load of waste deposited at Magheraglass landfill site

by Q Radio News

Magheraglass landfill site near Cookstown has accepted its last lorry load of waste.

It’s exactly 20 years to the day after a bin lorry first tipped rubbish into the site.

It’s now closed after meeting the waste disposal needs of the Cookstown area for two decades.

The site is owned and operated by the former Cookstown District Council.

It was the most modern engineered landfill in Northern Ireland at the time of opening.

It was constructed in sand rather than rock.

Mid Ulster has the highest recycling rate in Northern Ireland, with over 50% of household waste now being recycled or composted.

The site was opened just seven months after the introduction of the new landfill tax.

Landfill tax has increased substantially, -now standing at £86.10 per tonne, and in the case of Magheraglass, has generated over £17.5M in landfill tax payments, based on the disposal of some 560,000 tonnes of waste.

Chair of the Council, Councillor Trevor Wilson, said the landfill site’s closure was a significant step in the on-going drive to reduce reliance on landfill and continue to increase recycling rates.

“Magheraglass means ‘green plain’ and when it is capped and properly reinstated around a year from now, this site will fully deserve that particular topographical description,” he says.

The chair says new regulations mean all food waste must be disposed of through brown bins and never placed in black bins.

“I would encourage our residents to continue their recycling efforts,” he adds.

While the landfill site is now closed, Magheraglass will continue to operate as a waste transfer station for black, blue and brown bin waste collected in the Cookstown area.