Historic landfill sites in Sunderland
The Environment Agency records 32 historic landfill sites in and around Sunderland. covering roughly 208 hectares in total. The largest is Fulwell Quarry Phase 2 at 36.44 ha. Recorded waste ranges up to industrial waste. Data: October 2025 revision.
Recorded landfill boundaries around Sunderland (indicative, digitised at 1:10,000).
All recorded sites, largest first
| Site | Area | Last input | Waste types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fulwell Quarry Phase 2B | 36.44 ha | 1991 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Fulwell Quarry Phase 2 | 36.44 ha | 1989 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Fulwell South Quarry | 23.64 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Fulwell Quarry No.1 / Phase 1 | 21.7 ha | 1988 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Fulwell West Quarry | 13.12 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| NCB Fulwell | 11.95 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Fulwell Central Quarry | 10.27 ha | — | Commercial |
| Ford Quarry / Hylton Quarry Reclamation Site | 7.8 ha | 1981 | Inert |
| Timber Beach | 6.12 ha | 1988 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Southwick Yard | 5.87 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Hendon Cliff | 4.64 ha | 1994 | Inert |
| Ford Paper Mill Phase II | 3.28 ha | 1981 | IndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert |
| Barnes Park West | 3 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Fulwell Quarry No.2 | 2.24 ha | 1982 | Inert |
| Silksworth | 2.18 ha | 1982 | Inert |
| Tunstall Hope Road | 2.08 ha | 1988 | Inert |
| Hollycarrside | 1.99 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Barnes Park East | 1.95 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| High Southwick Quarry | 1.86 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Pallion Sports Ground | 1.84 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Coles Cranes Limited No.1 | 1.72 ha | 1984 | Inert |
| Port of Sunderland | 1.38 ha | 1986 | Inert |
| Port of Sunderland No.1 | 1.38 ha | 1987 | Inert |
| Ryhope Tip | 1.01 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Silksworth Colliery | 0.92 ha | 1979 | Inert |
| Barnes Park Lake | 0.82 ha | 1980 | Inert |
| Harbour View | 0.68 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| South Dock No.21 | 0.48 ha | 1994 | Inert |
| Hendon Gasworks | 0.42 ha | 1991 | Inert |
| Collins Foundry | 0.2 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| Shirley Banks | 0.2 ha | — | Waste types not recorded |
| St Peters Riverside | 0.2 ha | — | Inert |
What this data does — and doesn't — cover
- Licensed-era records only. Waste licensing began in 1974. Older tips — especially small pre-war ones — are incompletely recorded, so absence from this data does not mean no landfill ever existed here.
- Not the contaminated-land register. Councils hold a separate register of land determined as contaminated. A historic landfill entry is not a contamination determination, and vice versa.
- Boundaries are indicative. Digitised at 1:10,000 scale; some are buffers around a point rather than surveyed edges.
- Not a substitute for a formal environmental search. If you're buying, your conveyancer's environmental search checks this and several other sources.
EA Historic Landfill dataset, October 2025 revision. More on the methodology page.
Common questions
- How many former landfill sites are there in Sunderland?
- 32 historic (closed) landfill sites are recorded within about 15km of Sunderland town centre in the Environment Agency's Historic Landfill dataset (October 2025 revision). Pre-1974 sites are incompletely recorded, so the true historical number is likely higher.
- How do I check a specific address in Sunderland?
- Search the postcode on Landfill Check — you'll see every recorded site within 1km, with distance, direction and waste types, measured to the site boundary.
Nearby areas
Worth reading: buying a house near a former landfill and what the waste types mean.