Rolleston will have a new transfer station to replace the current landfill (tip) by July.
Central Highlands Regional Council’s Manager Environment and Planning Kirstin Byrne said the move will bring the community in line with current environmental legislation.
‘Council has an obligation to replace the old-fashioned tip with a transfer station and to provide a better way of sorting waste from recycling,’ she explained.
‘The transfer station is basically a place where non-recoverable waste is placed into large bins and is transported to the Lochlees landfill near Emerald.
‘A waste transfer station is an efficient way to safely manage lots of different types of waste and to sort the waste from the recyclables. And, by regularly removing waste from the transfer station there is less odour, risk of fire, windblown rubbish and risk of environmental contamination around the site.’
The new Rolleston facility is to be constructed next to the sewerage treatment plant and will provide hardstand areas for recovery of green waste, oil, and metal and building materials.
Ms Byrne said construction of the facility was put to tender and won by a Roma-based company.
‘There is a rigorous tender selection process heavily weighted to encourage local expenditure,’ she said.
‘However, it’s not unusual for the larger companies based south of our region to service our far southern communities like Rolleston, Arcadia Valley and Bauhinia.
‘The contractor is committed to spending between 50 and 60 per cent of the direct costs of the Rolleston project in the local region. This corresponds with council’s overall local spend of 53.5 per cent in 2016-17 and 44.6 per cent so far in 2017-18.’
The Rolleston landfill will continue to operate normally until construction of the new transfer station is complete.