Council resolves to continue to support Leeton Recycling Centre

24 Aug 2017 2:15 PM -

Leeton Shire Council resolved at its August Ordinary Council meeting to continue to support the Leeton Recycling Centre to offer commercial recycling services to the value of $5000 net per annum for a three year period ending 30 June 2020.

The original recommendation put forward for Council to consider at the August Ordinary meeting was to no longer offer a fuel/freight subsidy to support Leeton Recycling Centre taking effect by 1 October 2017.

While Councillors supported in principle the staff recommendation that it was inappropriate to subsidise freight services for a private company, following a presentation from Mr Odewahn on the volume of material his business is keeping out of the landfill, it was resolved to continue with financial support on the basis that the service is lengthening the life of the landfill and effectively saving Council money.

Noting that each pit or cell at the landfill cost $600,000 to develop and that, since 2008, Leeton Recycling Centre has diverted sufficient volume to fill one cell, Mayor Maytom said councillors considered an investment of around $5,000 a year money well spent. 

“By supporting Leeton Recycling Centre, Council is ensuring the longevity and long term sustainability of our Leeton Landfill operation. Once all the pits at our current Landfill site are filled a new location will need to be determined further away from town which will be a costly exercise for Council and more importantly the residents of Leeton Shire. The more waste we divert from the landfill now, the better for us in the long term.”

As part of the agreement with Leeton Recycling Centre an annual report will be supplied to Council to monitor the extent to which the service is diverting waste from the landfill. This will give Council improved data for future decisions on supporting such services.