Work has started to restore the Auchinlea landfill site to green space.

The site at Cleland, which is owned and managed by North Lanarkshire Council, had reached its capacity was closed in March.

As a result, a full restoration and capping of the site will take place, and involves placing a layer of soil over the final layer of compacted waste before covering the area with a specialised plastic sheet.

The sheets are heat welded together to create an impermeable cover which prevents rain water from getting though as well as keeping waste water and landfill gas in.

Once that process is complete, top soil will be placed over the site to allow vegetation to grow and wildlife to re-inhabit the ground.

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The council will continue to monitor the site and extract the landfill gas, which is used to generate electricity. This process ensures the gas is used productively and prevents damage to the environment.

Mouldings Contracts Ltd has been appointed to carry out the work, which will take 16 weeks and cost around £531,231.

Full restoration of the site is estimated to be complete by September.

Councillor Helen McKenna, Convener of the Environmental Services Committee, said: "Although Auchinlea is now closed, we have ongoing responsibilities to ensure it is properly managed and the land restored to green space.

"When the waste in a landfill site breaks down it gives off carbon dioxide and methane gases, known as greenhouse gases, which are harmful to the environment. Therefore, we must take action to minimise the gas going into the atmosphere.

"One way we do this is to collect the gases and convert them into power which is then fed into the national grid. In this way, landfill gases are recycled into renewable energy which now makes up 20% of all electricity used in the UK."

(JP)