Bega Council will investigate looking closer to home for help dealing with its recycling. Photo: Bega Valley Shire Council.
Would using a local waste plant in the region make dealing with co-mingled recycling easier?
That’s what Bega Valley Shire Council (BVSC) considered in a recent meeting and voted unanimously to investigate partnering with Shoalhaven City Council to use its Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in South Nowra.
“They [Shoalhaven Council] have approached Bega Valley Shire Council to explore contractual arrangements and ascertain our willingness to enter into an agreement with them,” meeting documents state.
The current contract with Cleanaway is set to run until June 2030, with options available to extend the arrangement for several years after.
The region’s recycling is sent to the Cleanaway MRF at Rooty Hill in Sydney for sorting.
BVSC CEO Anthony McMahon said the discussions with SCC and Cleanaway would be based around making sure there was “value for money” from the shire’s waste contracts.
About 3500 tonnes of co-mingled recycling are collected each year from domestic and commercial premises in the Bega Valley.
He told the meeting there was limited “feasibility” in working on a similar plant locally.
“We are not at the scale where it would be feasible,” he said.
“We’ve done investigations several times over the last 10 years or so to look at options – the only way it would become feasible is if we got commitment from all kinds of people around us … that would mean us then competing with someone like Shoalhaven and the ACT, and then you end up driving the prices down.”
The meeting documents state that, in contract correspondence with Cleanaway, BVSC flagged it would preference other sites in the future that meet a set criteria (such as those that are more locally-based or are lower in price).
“Cleanaway is aware that council has been seeking updates on projects that could impact regional waste services, including the SCC MRF project and that we continue to preference local and regional solutions.”
The MRF in Canberra before the fire. Photo: James Coleman.
According to BVSC meeting documents, there have been no “regionally based” MRF sites since late 2022.
Mr McMahon said any negotiations would include planning around how the area would manage if there were issues with the chosen facility.
“What I’m alluding to there, is everything’s fine when the facilities are available, but we’ve got from experience that isn’t always the case, which is what happened in the ACT.
“[That] got us into a bit of a bind when that facility burnt down.”
Canberra’s recycling plant was gutted in a 2022 Boxing Day fire believed to have been sparked by batteries, and led to its demolition.
“We are aware that the ACT Government is in the process of procuring a new materials recovery facility that’s still a number of years away from operation.”
During the discussion, Cr Helen O’Neil sought an update on the long-awaited FOGO (food and garden organics) plant.
She said it appeared a development application was “rolling through very slowly”.
In response, Mr McMahon said he would have to take the question on notice and return with an update.
He confirmed the recycling contract negotiations would be “completely independent” of the council’s FOGO waste management policy.
The meeting papers also state that any changes to contract arrangements would be subject to further consideration by councillors.
