Shire in urgent talks to restart recycling processing

The Shire of Augusta Margaret River and waste contractors Cleanaway are in urgent talks to discuss the immediate future of the kerbside recycling service following advice their collections would now be taken to landfill.

Cleanaway’s recycling collections were being taken to their South Guildford processing facility, but when a fire destroyed their $25m plant last November an interim arrangement was made to access the South Metropolitan Regional Council (SMRC) plant.

Shire of Augusta Margaret River Director Sustainable Development Dale Putland said these interim arrangements ended on 24 January 2020, with talk of a longer term arrangement between the parties stalling due to disagreements over contract terms.

“This is concerning news for the Shire and our residents who have really adapted well to the new three-bin service to achieve excellent resource recovery rates,” he said.

“We will not accept recycling going into landfill and our staff are working with urgency and immediacy towards an acceptable solution.”

Mr Putland said that the Shire has been advised that 20 local governments were affected by the situation and the Western Australian Environment Minister, the Western Australia Local Government Association, and the Department of Waste and Environmental Regulation were assisting Cleanaway and affected parties to resolve the issue.  

“The good news is there is a lot of appetite to find a solution and implement any required changes as quickly as possible,” he said.

“More news is coming to light on an hourly and daily basis and we are working to stay abreast of the situation.”

Mr Putland urged local residents to please keep sorting their waste into their bins as per normal as recycling processing could restart with limited notice.

“The issue is solely with the yellow bins,” he said,

“Please reduce consumption where possible and continue sorting appropriately so that when processing restarts we aren’t contributing towards any contamination of our recycling materials.

“Remember you can also place paper and cardboard in your lime green lid FOGO bin.”

The Shire will update the community on the matter as soon as new information is available. 

A Council report to approve collection centres to enable Shire residents to participate in a container recycling scheme is being expedited to enable the community an additional cash-back recycling options for some recyclables.