Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)

Shoalhaven City Council is committed to maximizing the recovery of resources in an ever-changing industry. Our efforts have focused on ensuring recycling continues within the Shoalhaven while minimising the risk of recyclables being sent to landfill.

In the foreseeable future, Council’s capacity to viably and efficiently collect, store and process recycling over the long-term will be impacted greatly by residential and tourism-related population growth.

This proposed Council owned and operated Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) will provide flexibility in adapting to external pressures that affect the economics and management of recycling.

Background

On 10 December 2019, Council adopted the business case to establish a best practice MRF at its existing West Nowra Waste Management Precinct to process commingled recycling.

Project Objectives

The key objectives of the MRF are:

1. to produce high quality, sorted and separated recyclable products
2. to control recycling within our region, reducing the dependency on external and third party services to provide greater flexibility to adapt to market changes
3. improve Council’s landfill diversion rate
4. assist the transition towards a circular economy
5. increased employment opportunities for local residents.

Project Overview

MRFs are comprised of a series of mechanical, electronic and manual sorting processes which sort the commingled recycling stream into individual material types. This is achieved by both extracting materials suitable for recycling and removing those that cannot be recycled.

Recyclable materials will be sourced from Council’s kerbside collections, waste depots and other Council owned entities such as Holiday Haven Tourist Parks. Opportunities for collection beyond our region will also be investigated.

As the market demands better quality products, Council will establish a MRF, utilising best practice technology, in order to ensure success and longevity in the recycling industry. This investment in innovative technologies will see Council as a leader in waste management and recycling.