Materials Recovery Facility to be Constructed and Recycling to be Discussed

Council is moving ahead with the design of the Materials Recovery Facility with the opportunity to introduce a residential recycling service in Mount Isa, following a decision made at Council’s March 17 Ordinary Meeting.

Council is planning to hold a series of community consultation sessions in April about the proposed introduction of a yellow-top residential recycling bin service.

At the sessions, Council will seek feedback from residents about the option of having a yellow-top bin service in the community, to understand how the planned changes to residential bin collections will impact on residents, as well as provide further information about the project.

The current proposal is for yellow-top bins to be distributed throughout the community in the second half of 2022, and the recycling collections to be done on a fortnightly basis. One of the options is for red-top (general waste) collections to be carried out once a week.

Council will also undertake a community education program about what should and shouldn’t go into the yellow-top and existing red-top bins.

Councillor Paul Stretton, who is responsible for the Waste Management portfolio, said Council had received $6 million in funding in mid-2020 from the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund to construct a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), which will be used to sort and process recyclable domestic waste such as plastic, metals and cardboard.

“This is a very significant project for Council and will mean a kerbside residential recycling collection service will potentially be able to be provided to Mount Isa residents for the first time,” Cr Stretton said.

“There is now a major push by State and Federal governments for Councils across Australia to undertake waste-minimisation and recycling practices as much as possible, and the Materials Recovery Facility will enable us to do just that.

“We plan to deliver a recycling service in Mount Isa that will have the least amount of impact on ratepayers, but this depends on successful community consultation.”

Mount Isa was included in the State Government Waste Levy when it was implemented in 2019. All non-recyclable waste (i.e., waste taken to landfill) is subject to the Waste Levy.

While Council receives an annual payment from the State Government to cover most of the Waste Levy associated with domestic waste taken to landfill, this payment is not guaranteed past 2022.

Mayor Danielle Slade said the Waste Levy aims to encourage people to cut down on the amount of waste that they generate.

“The need for us to better manage our waste and reduce the amount that gets sent to landfill has been the impetus for us to establish a recycling facility and potential residential yellow-top bin service in Mount Isa,” Cr Slade said.

“It is a big step for the Mount Isa community, and there been a lot of support for recycling to be introduced here. In 2020 we had more than 930 responses to a local survey asking if residents would like a recycling service, and 97% of them answered in the affirmative.

“Mount Isa City Council will be conducting community engagement on this recycling service in April, and it will be important that we get feedback from residents on the scheme to change to a weekly red-top bin service and include a fortnightly yellow-top bin service.

“There will be a cost to the community for recycling and Council want to consult with residents to ensure the best outcome.”