This article is from page 3 of the 2011-11-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
ALL commercial waste produced in County Clare will have to be hauled outside the county from this Friday following the closure of the Central Waste Management in Inagh.
From this Friday, November 25, the landfill at Ballyduff beg will be closed to all commercial waste, with only waste for recycling and a small amount of domestic landfill waste accepted. This means that commercial producers in Ennis will now face a 145-kilometre round-trip to Gortadroma in south west Limerick or a 180-kilometre round-trip to the Green Star facility in Ballinasloe to properly dispose of their waste.
This move is the result of a decision made by Clare County Council in December of 2010 not to open a fourth cell at the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff beg. The decision was made when projected figures from the council revealed that the landfill centre would become a loss-making venture in the years to come.
The revised figures are a result of the economic slowdown which saw a dramatic drop in the amount of waste being produced by the construction sector – resulting in a large drop in the price paid for disposing of landfill waste.
This dramatic drop in the price received for properly disposing of landfill also means that the Central Waste Management Facility in Bal- lyduff beg will be a loss-making venture for Clare County Council over its entire life-time and not the cashcow that some had described it as.
“A resolution was passed by the elected members of Clare County Council in late 2010 not to develop phase 4 of the facility once phase 3 had been completed,” said Paul Moroney, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council at Ballyduff beg.
“Phase 3 is scheduled to be completed by the end of this week. As a result, and in accordance with the resolution passed by councillors, the landfill will close to commercial customers.
“Small quantities of domestic waste will continue to be accepted from members of the public at the Ballyduff beg facility. The recycling centre will remain operational as normal.”
The Ballyduff beg facility has been a controvertial point for the people of Inagh for a number of years with a number of local residents complaining about smells and vermon activity at the facility.
Clare County Council was sited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for breaches of its license on a number of occasions in recent years.
The Central Waste Management Facility in Ballyduff beg will remain open to all domestic customers from Tuesday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm and on Saturdays from 8.30am to 1pm.