Staff and pupils from Downpatrick Nursery enjoy a tour of the newly opened HRC facility in Downpatrick along with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Charlie Casey.

Downpatrick’s new Household Recycling Centre (HRC) is officially open.

Located on the Flying Horse Road, the newly completed centre provides residents with a modern, accessible facility to make it easier for them to recycle more of their household waste.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairman, councillor Charlie Casey, presided over the opening and also in attendance were councillors, council officials and contractors who worked with the council to develop the facility and process the material collected for recycling.

Councillor Casey said: “This new facility, developed at a cost of £1,000,000, provides approximately four times the capacity than the previous site at Cloonagh Road.

“We are delighted with this new centre, which has been designed to be quicker, easier and safer for all our customers to use. With an efficient one-way traffic management system, it allows customers ease of use and access. It will also operate a ‘meet and greet’ system so attendants can best control segregation of recyclables.

“The new HRC also offers local householders an opportunity to recycle a wide range of material including metal, wood, plastic, electrical goods, green waste and batteries. In fact, we aim to recycle 75% of the material that we receive at this site.”

“The council is delighted with the amount of recycling that has been carried out so far and we ask that customers continue to pre-sort their materials before coming to the centre as recyclable material is not allowed to be placed in the general waste containers.

Councillor Casey added: “I would like to thank all those involved in this ongoing project and look forward to the continued support of householders using the facility.”

Director of Neighbourhood Services for Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Roland Moore, said, “Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is currently recycling 51% of its overall waste. This is an impressive 10% increase in just two years and whilst this is a tremendous achievement, we are committed to a target recycling rate of 65% by 2030.

“Nearly 25% of all the waste collected in the district comes through our HRC’s, therefore it is important that they are performing as effectively as possible. The new, modern facility at Downpatrick improves operations and health and safety around the site, which means residents will be able to increase their recycling and cut down on waste.”

For more information on the new site please visit the Council website on https://www.newrymournedown.org/hrc or contact 0300 013 2233.