A famous folk singer has penned a protest song taking aim at the shipping of waste from an English council into a Northern Ireland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Rostrevor Action Respecting the Environment (RARE) member and renowned Irish folk musician, Colum Sands has released ‘Time for Talking Rubbish’ amid frustration his community will bear the brunt of any fallout from the multi-million pound contract.
Cambridgeshire City Council signed off on a deal with Newry recycling firm Re-Gen in January to potentially sort over 80,000 tonnes of mixed recycling by temporarily bringing it across the Irish Sea.
At the time, Re-Gen told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) it would have a new sorting facility in Britain by April which would negate the need to transport Cambridge waste to Northern Ireland.
Concerns have been raised previously about Warrenpoint Harbour where waste that cannot be recycled is stored ahead of being shipped abroad.
A spokesperson for Re-Gen Waste said: “Re-Gen remains committed to mobilising a MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) in Great Britain to help us achieve our future growth objectives. Re-Gen is currently transporting recyclables from Greater Cambridge council to its state-of-the-art facility in Newry.”
In July 2024, Peterborough City Council (PCC) entered a contract with Re-Gen with a potential value of £9m over seven years.
According to a PCC report seen by the LDRS, Peterborough is part of the ‘RECAP’ Waste Partnership – made up of Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Peterborough City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council – that “determines the lowest price to appoint suppliers to undertake dry mixed recycling”.
The RECAP collective states it requires 82,000 tonnes of dry mixed recycling to be managed.
Cambridgeshire City Council’s Labour cllr Rosy Moore told the chamber that the 400 tonnes of the local authority’s waste would begin to be recycled in Newry every month from March.
When the contract was awarded, Re-Gen responded to a query by the LDRS, saying, “from April 2025 we will have a GB operational MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) which will process the recyclables from Greater Cambridge and negate the need to transport the material to Northern Ireland”.
However, RARE is now critical of delays to the Re-Gen plant in GB and its affects on an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Colum said: “I’m part of the community of people living around the shores of Carlingford Lough, a community which is concerned not only about Re-Gen, but also about the negative impact on environment and the wellbeing of residents, businesses and visitors which is emanating from the storage of waste in south Down.
“Like many other people, I have worked in trying to fill the vacuum of almost total political silence facing the waste operation and the transportation of odorous or indeed any waste into south Down on totally unsustainable journeys from as far away as 400 miles in the council areas of Cambridgeshire.”
The Folk singer has now put words and images together in a song entitled, ‘Time for Talking Rubbish 2025’ in which he outlines his concerns with a plea to decision makers in Cambridge.
He added: “Songs can often summarise a complex story into a few minutes. The actual song has already received radio plays in Scotland and England and is attracting positive responses from councillors and members of the community in Cambridgeshire who are as shocked and outraged by the Cambridge to Co Down waste story as people in our area.”
Cambridge cllr Elliot Tong (Green Party) raised his concerns as the Re-Gen contract was awarded stating, “there is a shocking lack of consideration of the environmental impacts, particularly when it comes to carbon footprint”.
Colum added: “Waste is a world wide problem for us all to consider, we need to meet with each other and all of the above named bodies – it’s time for talking rubbish.”
He added that he hoped to “encourage and inspire the conversation for positive change”.
