Since July this year recycling services at the Byron Resource Recovery Centre (BBRC) have expanded to include mattresses, concrete, timber, and plasterboard.
So far, it's been well received with 146 mattresses, 151 tonnes of concrete, 7.5 tonnes of plasterboard and 1.22 tonnes of timber being diverted from landfill.
"Concrete is sent to a recycler at Alstonville, where it is crushed into aggregate for reuse which is a local solution to a local problem," Danielle Hanigan, Council's Manager Resource Recover, said.
"In another exciting program North East Waste, which represents councils in the Northern Rivers, is working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority, on a pilot project to process plasterboard," she said.
Clean, uncontaminated plasterboard is reprocessed into gypsum which is then used in the manufacture of new plasterboard and cement products, as well as agricultural products.
Mattresses are sent to Cootamundra in regional NSW where they are stripped and components, like steel, repurposed.
"There is a charge for people to bring in their materials for recycling, but we have reduced the fees to $35 per mattress and $250 a tonne for concrete, timber and plasterboard, but people would be paying to dispose of these things anyway," Ms Hanigan said.
"Whilst recycling comes at a cost, we try to make it cheaper than sending it to landfill, where possible - and it is better for the environment.
"Previously these materials would have been sent to south east Queensland for disposal to landfill," she said.
All concrete, plasterboard and timber for recycling must be sorted and cleaned. Council also has free trailers for residents to hire to assist with transporting materials to the Resource Recovery Centre.
Information about recycling, and the free trailer hire service, is on Council's website.
