City of Newcastle (CN) is inviting expressions of interest for the collection and processing of its recyclable waste as it continues to plan toward the construction of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at Summerhill Waste Management Facility.
A MRF is a local factory where recyclable materials collected from homes and businesses are taken to be sorted into different waste streams.
Recycling from Newcastle residents’ yellow-lid bins is currently collected by Solo Waste Pty Ltd and taken to the Summerhill site before being transferred to iQ Renew’s processing facility on the Central Coast.
With both contracts due to expire in November, CN opened an EOI for the services on March 12 ahead of a selective tender process set to take place in mid 2022.
City of Newcastle said it was conscious about the need to cater for additional growth in the recyclables markets into the future and publishing an EOI would ensure all processing options are given due consideration.
Council is seeking to ensure facilitation, development and support of the local circular economy along with maximising the economic benefit from recyclable materials.
The EOI seeks to provide options to consider the processing of recyclable waste from not only the Newcastle community but from across the Hunter and also includes a separable portion allocated to the design, construction and operation of a new Materials Recycling Facility at Summerhill.
The project received a $5 million boost from the Federal and NSW Governments in August last year and CN has prepared concept designs in conjunction with site master planning to ensure the optimal location of the facility alongside other waste diversion projects, such as the organics facility.
The MRF is planned to be scalable, designed in a manner which allows for flexibility to cater to changes in the way we recycle, and the growth in recycling efforts.
Construction of the MRF, in addition to the planned advanced organics recycling facility, would allow Newcastle’s red, yellow and green-bin domestic waste to be processed at the one location.
City of Newcastle said it was committed to increasing its capabilities for the recycling and reuse of waste products under its new Sustainable Waste Strategy, which is currently being drafted.
Council revealed plans for the Summerhill Waste Management Facility to play a key role in the region’s move towards a circular economy and its ability to address future NSW and Federal government targets on waste diversion and recycling.
“The Sustainable Waste Strategy focuses on increased diversion, circular economy and co-location of waste assets in the Summerhill precinct, localising the supply chain and reducing transport costs,” CN said.
It also functions to ensure the site offers a place to process recyclables after the existing recycling contracts almost failed in 2020, resulting in Council having to step in and vary the recyclables processing arrangements.
Information source: City of Newcastle