Youngs Quarry Composting Facility

Sligo County Council in conjunction with Ballisodare Community Council is delighted to announce the opening of the Youngs Quarry, Green Waste Composting Facility, located on the Ballygawley Road just outside Ballisodare village.

The Youngs Quarry Composting facility accepts all garden and landscaping wastes e.g. grass clippings, hedge trimmings, trees, bushes, shrubs, leaf litter etc. which will be composted on-site to produce a quality compost product.  No other waste types are accepted at this facility.  As even the amateur gardener knows, there is a large amount of this material generated at this time of the year from maintenance of gardens and the trimming back of shrubs, hedges and trees. 

The composting facility is open six days a week (Mon-Fri 10:00 – 1:00 and 2:00-4:00, Sat 10:00-2:00), and is operated by two Ballisodare natives, Joe White and Derek Lavin.  Both have received Certificates in Compost Facility Operation, after completing a course run by Cre (Composting Association of Ireland) in conjunction with Sligo Institute of Technology. 

This facility is an important piece of the waste management infrastructure, required under the Connaught Waste Management Plan, and will divert a significant amount of waste away from landfill, as well as providing an economical and sustainable way of dealing with this type of waste.

Windrow Composting

The green waste will be composted using a technique known as ‘windrowing’.  This involves shredding and mixing woody and soft green material and forming them into rows, which are monitored to ensure that the conditions (temperature, moisture content and aeration levels) are optimum.  The windrows are turned on a regular basis to increase aeration and to speed up the decomposition process.   After three months the green waste breaks downs, through a natural process of decomposition, into a compost product that has a whole host of uses including top dressing, potting and bedding, landscaping and top soil manufacture.

Speaking on the opening of the new facility, Fiona Kelly, Environment Awareness Officer with Sligo County Council said, “Instead of sending compostable green waste for landfill, members of the public and landscapers now have a facility to recycle their green garden waste which will be processed into a valuable product which can be used as a soil enhancer, fertiliser or mulch for landscaping.  This is a very welcome piece of waste infrastructure which will add to the range of waste management options available to the public in Sligo”. 

Landscape contractors working on Council projects and Council staff have been using the Green Garden Composting Facility over recent weeks and have welcomed the service as a modern and economical approach to managing this waste stream. 

Gate Fees: 

Standard Black Bag  €1
Car Trailer (single axle)  €6
Car Trailer (double axle)  €8
Standard Van  €15
Standard Truck  €20

Initially compost generated from the site will be used for Council landscaping  projects and it is envisaged that compost will be available for sale to members of the public in the near future.

For further information contact: Youngs Quarry Composting Facility, Ballygawley Road, Ballisodare Tel: 087 9756455.

R. McNulty
Director of Services

Published on the 22/07/2008