THE LARGEST landfill in the midwest is to be put up for sale by Limerick County Council.
The move comes as figures show that waste to be landfilled in the region is to drop by 100,000 tonnes, or 57 per cent, in the next five years.
The council has advertised for tenders for consultants to oversee the sale of its main landfill at Gortadroma, where the annual capacity is 130,000 tonnes.
The council’s move comes after Clare County Council confirmed that it is considering the sell-off or outright closure of its Inagh landfill, which has an annual licensed capacity of 56,500 tonnes.
Explaining the background behind the move to sell, chairman of Limerick County Council Cllr Richard Butler (FG) said yesterday that it was not feasible to hold on to the landfill without a guaranteed continuity of waste to be landfilled at the site.
Mr Butler said: “There are new ways of dealing with waste, and the council would have to spend millions of euro to upgrade Gortadroma, but the council does not operate its own waste collection service and cannot rely on private collectors, who will go to the landfill with the cheapest rates. As a result, it would be impossible to hold onto the landfill.”
There is no indication as yet on the price the council will receive for it. Mr Butler said no jobs would be lost, with staff having the option of working with the new owner or relocating to a different section of the council.
A spokesman for the council’s environment section said yesterday that the council had capacity for a further half million tonnes of waste at Gortadroma, while there was space for an additional one million tonnes of waste, which would be subject to a new planning application.
The council has operated a landfill site at Gortadroma in west Limerick for 20 years. A spokesman said: “The financial position in Gortadroma to date has been positive. However, in common with all other landfills throughout the country, deficits are expected to occur . . . and these deficits are projected to increase in the years ahead.”
The spokesman said the volumes of waste going to landfill were decreasing rapidly.
He cited three principal reasons for this: rising rates of recycling; the fact that organic waste has from next month to be diverted from landfill; and that incineration was now being recognised internationally as a superior form of waste treatment to landfill.
