New legislation means that Northern Ireland has to change the way it deals with its waste. It is no longer possible or desirable to simply discard our waste in landfill sites. To help address this problem, Colin Glen Composting is proposing to construct one of the most sophisticated and environmentally friendly recycling facilities in the UK
or Ireland.

The Colin Glen Compost (CGC) company has been formed to develop The Glenside Project.

The project proposes an innovative new composting facility at Glenside Quarry, 7km South West of Belfast City Centre which will focus on the preservation of the environment and address the need for biodegradable waste treatment for both municipal and commercial organic wastes in Northern Ireland.

The directors of the businesses have been involved in composting for many years and are involved in various organic composting businesses, namely Natural World Products and Rosy Lee Compost. These companies are the largest Green Waste Recyclers and Organic Waste Recyclers for local authorities in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Currently the companies recycle almost 40% of the waste in Northern Ireland.

EU and UK legislation requires the reduction in the amount of municipal biodegradable waste sent to landfill to be reduced to 85%, 75%, 50% and 35% by the years 2005, 2010, 2013 and 2020 respectively (based on 1995 waste levels).

Given that 65% of municipal waste is deemed biodegradable, the biological treatment (e.g. composting) of this waste can play an important part in management of this waste stream.

It is estimated that municipal waste in the Eastern Region of Northern Ireland will rise from 529,500 tonnes in 1999/2000 to 965,250 in 2020.
This predicted growth has placed considerable pressure on local authorities to continue with the implementation and upgrading of
the existing waste management infrastructure.

The proposed facility would be capable of accepting up to 40,000 tonnes of commercial organic wastes and source segregated catering (kitchen) wastes per annum initially, and eventually expanding to accept up to 80,000 tonnes per annum.