A more financially sustainable waste management facility that will better serve the Hawkesbury community is the goal for one of Council’s most strategic assets.
With Sydney forecast to run out of landfill space by 2036, there’s a need for Council to think strategically about our waste facility. Councillors considered two reports at last night’s Council meeting regarding extending the life of the facility, increasing the ability to recover more valuable resources, and expanding the customer base for recoverable items to neighbouring Local Government Areas (LGAs).
The resolutions included:
- Endorse the expansion of the customer base to include residents and businesses in the adjoining LGAs for resource recovery items.
- Initiate steps for expansion within the current landfill footprint and to the northern end of the current site.
- Investigate the options for expansion of the landfill footprint west.
- Extend the landfill life through detailed investigation into options for increased resource recovery.
Without expansion, Council’s landfill will reach capacity by 2029-2030 and would require the construction of a waste transfer station to transport waste to another waste facility, likely resulting in higher fees and charges for the Hawkesbury community.
The expansion of the resource recovery service to residents from neighbouring LGAs will help make the site more economical to run. This proposal does not allow residents outside the Hawkesbury to use the landfill service, which will remain exclusively for Hawkesbury residents. Only disposal of recoverable waste such as green waste, mattresses, scrap metal and other recyclable materials would be available to customers outside of the Hawkesbury LGA.
Residents would also be charged a cheaper rate for resource recovered items compared to non-residents with a two-tiered fee structure planned for adoption. This would strengthen Council’s ability to receive more external funding and provide an additional revenue stream.
Councillors also voted to initiate steps to investigate the options of expanding the landfill’s operations, initially to the north on the current site, and then the west. This work will be undertaken over the next two years, ahead of any decision to proceed with either of these options.
Hawkesbury City Mayor Sarah McMahon said the planned changes to the Waste Management Facility’s operation would be a major win for residents.
“The Strategy provides the direction for Council to meet the needs of the Hawkesbury community while strengthening the Facility’s financial sustainability,” Mayor McMahon said.
“We are always looking for opportunities to improve our existing services and make them better value for money for our ratepayers.
“I’m proud that our City is able to innovate and proactively manage the ever-present challenges of waste, and there certainly will be more announcements around our evolving waste services in the coming months.”
Deputy Mayor Barry Calvert said the Hawkesbury was uniquely poised to benefit from managing its own landfill and resource recovery services.
“With Sydney running out of options for dealing with waste, the Hawkesbury can offer a very valuable service to neighbouring LGAs while still providing the high-quality waste service to our own residents they have come to expect,” Clr Calvert said.
“With careful management, our Waste Management Facility can continue to evolve to meet the changing and growing needs of our City for many years to come.”
