Information for Hightown Quarry, Boghill Road, Mallusk, Newtonabbey, nr. Belfast
Status: PotentialPlanning Region: Northern Ireland
Planning Sub-Region: County Antrim
Operator: Arc21 / Becon Consortium (E.ON)
Capacity: 211,000 nominal capacity (wider site has capacity for 300,000 of up capacity to be split between MBT and EfW)
Campaign Group(s): NARC21 (No-ARC21), Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland, Green Party, Residents Against the Hightown Incinerator, Sinn Fein
Notes: Direct combustion incinerator intended to burn RDF and untreated waste. Planning application currently under consideration again following a complex legal history (T/2014/0114/F). Updated Planning Statement and Environmental Statement Addendum submitted in April 2025. In September 2025 DAERA announced that "New information received from the applicant, consultation responses and representations will be published here on the Planning Register" and set out the position of various public bodies. On 6 March 2026 the Department for Infrastructure wrote to the applicant in a 49-page letter asking for additional information, setting out queries from various DAERA departments, with the applicant being given 3 months to submit a response [Source]. The proposal has a long history: Granted planning permission in September 2017, but a successful legal challenge was brought by NoArc21 in November 2017 and the decision was quashed by the High Court in May 2018 and this quashing was upheld by the Court of Appeal in July 2018 [Source, Source, Source]. Planning application submitted March 2014, refused September 2015 by the Environment Minister, and appealed to the Northern Ireland Planning Appeals Commission in October 2015 (T/2014/0114/F) [Source]. Proposals were announced in March 2013 as part of the arc21 Residual Waste Treatment Project (Source). arc21 is "the umbrella waste management group for 11 councils in the east of Northern Ireland". Planning permission was refused by the Infrastructure Minister for Northern Ireland in March 2021 [Source]. In May 2023 Northern Ireland's High Court quashed the refusal, meaning the planning application was "remitted back to the Department for the decision to be retaken" [Source, Source]. (Entry updated 2026-04-20)
Plume Plotter entry for Newtownabbey
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Annual Performance Report files:
96-AnnualPerformanceReport-2019.xlsm.pdfDaera Response files:
96-DaeraResponse-April2024.pdfEnvironment Agency Compliance Assessment Reports
Click here to see the incinerator compliance documents for existing English incineratorsStandard notice:
UKWIN (and therefore the UKWIN map) focuses on Municipal Waste Incinerators, whereas our colleagues at Biofuelwatch focus on biomass projects. If you are interested in biomass incinerators (including waste wood plants) over 20MW then please see the Biofuelwatch map of UK Biomass Power Stations. Those concerned about biomass plants, including waste wood plants, should email Biofuelwatch at biofuelwatch[at]gmail.com.Please be aware: There is always room for improvement, so please send updates to coordinator@ukwin.org.uk. Existing Incinerator means a facility that is operational or under construction/commissioning. A Potential Incinerator is a facility where there is a proposal for an incinerator (e.g. planning application or planning consent) or other reason to believe an incinerator might be built/proposed in the future. A Prevented Incinerator is something which used to be a proposal or expected incinerator which we do not believe is currently being progressed (e.g. because the project was cancelled, planning permission refused, or years have gone by since the permission was granted without any progress) - in some cases a facility marked as prevented is being progressed without us being aware or is subsequently revived. Capacity is usually the permitted or maximum advertised capacity of the facility.