Tweed waste processing meets goals and requirements
08 August 2017
Tweed residents can be confident the shire’s recyclable and landfill waste is being managed responsibly and in a way that maximises the reuse of materials wherever possible, according to Council’s Coordinator Waste Management, Rod Dawson.
In response to last night’s Four Corners report on ABC Television, Mr Dawson confirmed all recyclable waste collected by Council’s contractors goes to a NSW Material Recovery Facility that provides regular assurances the material has been recycled.
“Our contractor is required to report to us quarterly on the amount of recyclables received and where each type of recyclable is then sent after processing ,” Mr Dawson said.
He also confirmed that while Council currently sends its landfill waste to South East Queensland, it is in accordance with NSW legislation.
“The Ipswich facility is within 150km of the Tweed and therefore compliant the Proximity Principle put in place under NSW Protection of the Environment Operations Legislation,” Mr Dawson said.
“The real concern is that waste generated in the Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong metropolitan areas and then transported to Queensland landfills, largely to avoid paying the landfill levy.”
Mr Dawson said the contract to send the Tweed’s landfill waste over the border was also in line with Local Government Act requirements to openly tender for providers, to ensure the process is fair, transparent and achieves the best result for Tweed ratepayers.
“We only received submissions from Queensland-based waste disposal sites to receive our waste and could therefore only accept one of those submissions,” he said.
“Given our close proximity to the border, the disposal of waste in Queensland is our most cost-effective option.
“Council is working on developing new waste disposal capacity at the Stotts Creek Recovery Centre, which will eventually receive our waste,” he said.
“It also means our waste is going to is a state-of-the-art, best practice landfill with gas capture and power generation, which the Tweed landfill does not have.”