New £1m Mid & East Antrim Household Recycling Centre project takes another step forward

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Cllr William McCaughey, looks over the plans at Sullatober HRC along with Site Manager, Jessica Stronge from CIVCO.

A new £1m household recycling centre is scheduled to open in Carrickfergus in the New Year, Mid and East Antrim councillors have been told.

The borough council is upgrading its recycling centre and transfer station adjacent to the existing Sullatober depot at Marshallstown Road which will be able to accommodate an additional 300 users daily.

The site will also facilitate the tipping of waste prior to loading into heavy goods vehicles for onward transfer.

The local authority has secured funding of £995,000 from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) for the project.

Currently, waste segregation on this site is the lowest of the council’s five household recycling centres. The new Sullatober Household Recycling Centre will be more than double the size of the existing facility.

The council says that the aim to to increase the waste segregation rate from 64 to 75 per cent which should divert over 1,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.

Operations Director Philip Thompson told Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Direct Services Committee that the overall cost of the new facility has increased by £47,000 and that a request to DAERA for additional funding was unsuccessful.

As a result, he indicated that the council would have to divert money from “underspends” in the budget to pay the shortfall.

He reported that the new facility is scheduled to open in January.

The existing recycling centre will close from the end of this month to enable compactors to be modified.

During the closure, residents will be required to travel to a household recycling centre at Island Road Lower, Ballycarry, where opening hours will be increased to accommodate the influx.

In a statement issued after the meeting, Mid and East Antrim Mayor Councillor William McCaughey said:

“The closure of the existing Sullatober recycling centre from Saturday, October 2 at 5pm will allow for construction works to progress.

“We are pleased to continue providing a recycling centre service to Carrickfergus and the surrounding areas through provision at Larne South Household Recycling Centre into early 2022.

“Thank you to our local residents for their patience while the work is ongoing.”