WORK has officially started on the multimillion-dollar organics processing facility which, from 2018, will transform Lake Macquarie’s garden and food waste into valuable compost.
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The project, at the Awaba Waste Management Facility, was unveiled to the media on Friday.
Mayor Kay Fraser joined representatives of waste management company Remondis Australia and the NSW Environment Protection Agency (EPA) at a groundbreaking ceremony.
“Today’s ceremony marks a groundbreaking day in more ways than one,” Cr Fraser said.
“As well as turning the first sod on our new organic waste composting facility, we are also marking a groundbreaking moment for our community in the way we manage waste – one that will see our council, our city and our citizens taking a leading role in reducing the amount of food waste going in to landfill.”
Remondis Australia’s chief executive officer Luke Agati said the industry was excited to see the project taking shape.
“When complete, the facility will receive and recycle more than 40,000 tonnes of food and garden organics every year,” Mr Agati said.
“The waste, which was once destined for landfill, will be transformed into quality compost products for market.”
The facility would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from household waste and create job opportunities for the local community, he said.
We hope this will revolutionise the way people think about the disposal of household waste.
- - Mayor Kay Fraser
Cr Fraser said the facility provided an important catalyst for change.
“Once this facility is completed in 2018, our residents will be the first in the Hunter to have access to designated food and garden waste kerbside collection and processing service capable of producing high-quality compost,” she said.
“We hope this will revolutionise the way people think about the disposal of household waste, resulting in significant financial and environmental benefits.”
The new facility would help residents to “close the food consumption loop” by helping to generate high-quality compost to be used on parks, gardens, sporting fields and in agriculture, “rather than decomposing needlessly in landfill”, Cr Fraser said.
The project was backed by an EPA grant under the Waste Less Recycle More initiative.