Large or bulky items destined for landfill will no longer be accepted at Council's Hervey Range Resource Recovery Centre in the weeks to come as the facility undergoes operational changes to focus on resource recovery instead of disposal.
Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said from 31 March, the Hervey Range Resource Recovery Centre will not be accepting large waste items over 1m2 in size.
"Most people don't realise Council's Hervey Range facility is no longer a landfill site and all materials that are not recoverable are transferred to our Stuart waste facility," Cr Greaney said.
"Each week, Council transfers on average 100 tonnes of residual waste material from Hervey Range to the Stuart Landfill by road, so these new changes will allow us to spend more time limiting community impact to the environment by recovering more resources.
"In order to transfer waste to Stuart, everything that is going to landfill from Hervey Range needs to go through a 1m x 1m shute into a compactor, meaning larger, bulky items do not fit, and can cause damage to our machinery."
Divisional Councillor Paul Jacob said items bigger than 1m2 and were not recoverable were best suited for the Stuart waste facility.
"We're still taking large items like fridges or dishwashers, as long as they are recyclable, but bigger items destined for landfill like an old broken wardrobe or bulky armchair need to be taken to our Stuart facility," Cr Jacob said.
"Things like construction waste, long lengths of timber, or material from landscaping and earthworks can no longer be dumped at the Hervey Range Resource Recovery Centre.
"We are still taking loads of green waste, metals, electronic waste, batteries, paint, cardboard and general household waste smaller than 1m2, it's just these bulky items that need to be taken to Stuart.
"As we transition to a circular economy and aim to limit waste to landfill, it's important people are doing what they can to make sure resources like metals, electronic waste, furniture and plastics are repurposed where they can.
"If people are sorting their loads correctly when they visit the Hervey Range Resource Recovery Centre, we can make sure less ends up in landfill and we can limit the impact we are having on our environment."
