Dumping at the Tir John site could cease within two to three months

The Environment Agency has rejected an application to extend the life of the Tir John tip on Fabian Way.

It said site operators could not show they could meet new regulations and there was a risk of water pollution in an environmentally sensitive location.

The agency said the closure highlighted the need to develop alternative ways of dealing with waste in Wales.

It is a national issue for Wales that urgently needs more sustainable solutions Ceri Davies, Environment Agency

The tip, surrounded on three sides by Crymlyn Bog which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, is run by the Swansea City Waste Disposal Company.

It is an independently-run company, wholly owned by Swansea Council.

It was told on Monday it had failed in its bid for the pollution prevention and control permit it needed to extend the life of the site.

Dumping at Tir John is likely to cease within two to three months.

The Tir John site has already been cutting back on private waste

Swansea Council said it was informed on Monday but was still awaiting the technical reasons for the decision.

A spokesman said: "There is no threat to domestic waste or recycling services and householders should continue to use these services in the usual way.

"What this situation does highlight is that it is essential for the people of Swansea to re-double their efforts to recycle domestic waste wherever possible."

In October, the National Audit Office for Wales warned many sites in Wales were already close to being full and the nation would run out of places to handle rubbish by 2010.

Ceri Davies, waste strategy and policy manager for Environment Agency Wales, said on Monday: "The pressure on landfill disposal is not restricted to Swansea.

"It is a national issue for Wales that urgently needs more sustainable solutions.

"Waste needs to minimised, reused and recycled wherever possible with disposal to landfill only used when other options have been exhausted.

"To meet the required higher environmental standards, those landfill sites that will remain open will have to be engineered to very high criteria."

Last week, Neath Port Talbot Council passed an application to extend the Pwllfawatkin landfill site near Pontardawe.