At the General Meeting on 27 February, senior staff released details of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which would commit Council to send all green and yellow bin waste to the organics and recycling processing facility at Cairncross in Port Macquarie.

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With the expiration of three major waste disposal contracts approaching in March 2027, Council resolved in 2022 to investigate collaboration with nearby councils to deliver waste disposal services in the most cost-effective manner.

Adding to the approaching deadline, new State-imposed mandates due to come into effect in July 2030, mean that Councils must provide all residents who receive a red bin collection service with a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) waste service.

Smaller volumes of waste to process leave less populous regions such as Bellingen, Kempsey and the Nambucca Valley with little option but to work with surrounding larger regions.

“It will undoubtedly be more expensive than our current (green and yellow bin) contract (entered into seven years ago), but without the volumes of a larger centre like Coffs or Port Macquarie, it would be prohibitively expensive (to process) the 2500 tonnes of recyclables for example that we produce,” Council General Manager Bede Spannagle told the meeting.

For Mr Spannagle and Manager of Development and Environment Daniel Walsh, last month’s report and the resulting MoU was the culmination of around 18 months’ work.

He gave credit to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council for “taking the lead on the regional collaboration”.

The decision of councillors to support the proposed MoU will lock Nambucca Valley Council into contractually binding supply agreements to be developed with neighbouring councils (Bellingen, Kempsey and Port Macquarie-Hastings).

Council currently has a waste contract with the City of Coffs Harbour.

Upon expiration of this arrangement in 2027, Mr Spannagle said he believed a six-year contract with Port Macquarie-Hastings Council would be in place under the agreement.

Another arrangement currently in place grants Bellingen processing of non-recyclables at Nambucca Valley’s facilities.

This is also due to expire in 2027.

“Grant funding is available for developing waste contracts that involve regional collaboration and a signed MoU would support such an application,” Mr Walsh said.

By Ned COWIE