The incident occurred at around 3pm on Monday afternoon at the Dargan Road landfill site.
It is understood that due to recent heavy rain in Northern Ireland, the waste was particularly soft and the man sank into it as soon as he left his vehicle.
Fellow employees attempted to dig the man out with their hands, but it took the fire service to retrieve the man from the waste, by which time it was too late. The employee of waste management company Waste Beaters, who has not been named, is understood to have suffocated.
Investigation
An investigation into the man's death is now underway by both Belfast city council, which owned the landfill, and the Northern Ireland Health and Safety Executive.
A spokeswoman for the HSE Northern Ireland said: “We are aware of the incident and are now investigating.”
Councillor Jim Rodgers, a former Lord Mayor of Belfast, described the incident as a “real tragedy” and told letsrecycle.com that his thoughts were with the victim's family.
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“Belfast city council has a very good health and safety record, not just at its landfill site but the whole council,” explained Cllr Rodgers. “One would hope that this will never happen again, but additional measures may have to be taken to ensure that.”
Cllr Rodgers also paid tribute to the emergency services, who he said were on site incredibly quickly.
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