An Australian-first piece of machinery has been delivered and will soon be in operation at Toowoomba Regional Council's (TRC) upgraded Yarraman Waste Management facility.
TRC Water and Waste Portfolio Lead Councillor Nancy Sommerfield said Council had purchased a Bergmann mobile jumbo bin compactor for use at Yarraman which has the potential to save ratepayers more than $1 million over the service life of the machine.
"The Bergmann mobile bin compactor, which has been nicknamed "Kermit", is the first mobile bin compactor of its type in Australia.
"It can compact around 8 tonnes of waste into a 30m2 RORO bin which would normally only be able to accommodate 2.5 tonnes.
"Compaction will reduce the number of RORO bin truck and dog trips between Yarraman WMF and the Toowoomba Waste Management Centre, saving around $68,000 per year and more than $1 million across the 15-year life of Kermit," Cr Sommerfield said.
"The mobile nature of Kermit is an Australian-first and Council is proud to add the machine to our waste management fleet and deliver real savings for our ratepayers from day one.
"Kermit's return on investment could be as much as 390 per cent over 15 years and with cost escalation for transport, savings may be even higher during that time.
"As well as compacting waste to maximise tonnage, Kermit can move bins around on site, enabling full bins to be set aside for transport and empty bins to be placed for filling by residents and users of our Yarraman facility.
"Kermit is just one of the ways Council is delivering on its region-wide Waste Management Strategy to provide high-quality waste services that residents expect from their local government," Cr Sommerfield said.
