Waste removal in Cork: Tramore Valley civic amenity charges, mattress days and skip licences

Quick answer: Cork City Council does not list a household bulky collection. Its Civic Amenity Site at Tramore Valley Park (Kinsale Road) charges a €4 entry fee, €15 to €20 for a mattress and €10 to €25 for a sofa or armchair, and it ran free mattress drop-off days on 5 and 6 August 2026. Skips on public ground in the City Centre Island need a Council skip placement licence, which only a licensed skip operator can apply for, with a €110 application fee. The on-the-spot litter fine is €250 from 1 September 2026.

How waste removal works in Cork

Cork has two councils: Cork City Council, which covers the city and suburbs such as Douglas, Ballincollig and Blackpool, and Cork County Council for the rest of the county. Household bins are collected by private, permitted companies, not by either council; our guide to household bins in the Republic of Ireland explains how that works. For bulky items and clear-outs, city residents can use the Council’s Civic Amenity Site, hire a skip, or pay a permitted rubbish removal firm. Cork County Council runs its own civic amenity sites, including Raffeen near Monkstown and Rossmore near Carrigtwohill.

Tramore Valley Park Civic Amenity Site charges

We read Cork City Council’s civic amenity page in September 2026. The site is on the South City Link Road, opposite Black Ash Park and Ride. Commercial waste is refused, medium and large vans and pick-ups are not allowed in, and there is a 2-metre height barrier. Cash and card are accepted. These are the charges the Council lists (effective since 11 September 2023):

Item	Charge
Entry fee (also covers a car load of recyclables)	€4
Standard bag of refuse	€6
Standard bag of soil or stone	€6
Standard bag of green waste	€5
Small low-sided single-axle trailer	€60
Small low-sided double-axle trailer	€80
Mattress	Single €15; double or king €20
Armchair or sofa	One-seater €10; two-seater €20; three-seater €25
Paint	€2 a can, maximum 10 tins per customer
Electricals, batteries, fluorescent tubes	Free

Opening hours are 8am to 4pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 11am to 4pm on Wednesday and 8am to 12.45pm on Saturday; the site is closed on Sundays and public holidays. Gas bottles and waste cooking oil are not taken. See our guide to leftover paint and household chemicals for other routes.

Mattress drop-off days

As part of its anti-dumping work, Cork City Council ran a free mattress drop-off at the Tramore Valley Park site on 5 and 6 August 2026, from 9am to 3.30pm, with a limit of two mattresses per car. Local reporting of the Council’s announcement said more than 300 mattresses were collected through the scheme the previous year. Outside these days a mattress costs €15 or €20 at the site. The national Anti-Dumping Initiative, which funds schemes like this, has €3 million for 2026.

Skips on public ground: Cork City licensing

Cork City Council licenses skips placed on public areas within the City Centre Island. The rules on the Council’s application page:

Rule	What the Council says
Who applies	Only a licensed skip operator; you must hire from one, and the operator needs a placement licence for each skip
Notice	At least 14 days before the work starts
Fee	€110 application fee, non-refundable even if refused or withdrawn; extensions of time are also €110; further charges are advised when the application is processed
Outside the zone	Parking charges apply if the skip is on a public road outside the licensed area
Paperwork	A traffic management plan near a carriageway, or a pedestrian management plan near a footpath

Most homes with a drive avoid all of this by keeping the skip on private ground. Ask the operator whether its quote includes any licence or parking charge.

Illegal dumping fines

Since 1 September 2026 the on-the-spot fine for littering in Ireland has been €250, up from €150, according to Citizens Information and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. On conviction in the District Court a litter offence can bring a fine of up to €3,000, and Citizens Information notes fines of up to €130,000 in the Circuit Court for causing environmental pollution. Just as important for anyone paying to get rid of rubbish: if a council can find out who owns material that has been dumped, the owner can be prosecuted even if they were not caught dumping it. That is why the permit check below matters. Report dumping to the council or to the 24-hour National Environmental Complaints Line on 1800 365 123.

Typical private prices in Cork

For typical private prices, use the national ranges in our Ireland waste removal costs guide. In summary, Kollect’s published Dublin rates (September 2026) run from €194.11 for a 2.5-yard skip to €529.44 for a 14-yard skip, including VAT, delivery, collection and disposal, and Cork Mini Skips’ published zone prices run from €230 for a 3-yard skip to €610 for a 14-yard skip. Cork Mini Skips publishes its own Cork prices by zone: €230 to €285 for a 3-yard mini skip, €305 to €365 for a 5-yard skip, €400 to €470 for a 7-yard builders skip and €525 to €610 for a 14-yard skip, with small web discounts. Weight matters as much as size: the State landfill levy is €85 a tonne, which feeds into disposal charges, so soil, rubble and tiles cost more to get rid of than the same volume of light household junk; see soil and rubble removal.

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We are a comparison and referral service, not a waste removal company. We do not guarantee a quote, a price or a response time. In the UK, always check the carrier's waste carrier registration before handing over waste.

How to choose a provider in Cork

Anyone who collects waste for a fee in Ireland needs a waste collection permit from the National Waste Collection Permit Office (NWCPO), and the permit lists the areas and types of waste the holder may collect. On the NWCPO register some Cork skip brands trade under a parent company’s permit (Cork Mini Skips, for example, is listed as a trading name of Country Clean Recycling), so search by trading name as well as company name. Before you book:

Ask for the NWCPO permit number and search it on the NWCPO permit register. Check the permit is current and covers Cork and the waste you have. Our guide to checking a collector on the NWCPO permit search shows how.
Get the price in writing, including VAT, delivery and collection, disposal by weight, and extra charges for mattresses, electricals, plasterboard or soil.
For a skip on the road, ask whether the operator holds the council skip licence and whether the permit fee is in the price.
Ask where the waste goes and keep a receipt that names the company.
Be wary of cash-only offers from a van with no permit number. Using an unpermitted collector does not end your responsibility for the waste.

Our checklist on comparing waste removal quotes works for Irish quotes too.

Waste removal businesses in Cork

These firms appear in public business listings for Cork and the surrounding area. We have not checked their work, prices, permits or insurance, and they have not paid to appear. Check each one on the NWCPO permit register before you book.