The Maitland Resource Recovery Facility (MRRF) has neared the end of the first of four steps being taken by the Maitland City Council to significantly improve the site.
Catherine Pepper, the Maitland City Council Manager of Environment and Sustainability, said that previously 76% of waste dropped off at the site went to landfill – council believed they could do better.
“Our primary focus for stage one is improving user experience, so customers using the site find it easy to get around and can more easily separate recyclable items out from the mixed loads,” Miss Pepper said.
Upcoming stages will community education facilities, expanding the range of materials that can be dropped off for free, building a new weighbridge gatehouse, and constructing new infrastructure.
Maitland Council said the four stage plan was formed in response to the Maitland populations dissatisfaction with waste management.
According to Miss Pepper, a community environmental attitudes survey from 2022 revealed that improvements to the MRRF was Maitland’s top priority in conservationist regards.
The next stage of improvements are said to go underway in early 2024. The final stage will conclude in 2026. The plan for these improvements are to drastically reduce waste going to landfill, as to contribute to the New South Wales government’s plan to have at least 80% of waste being diverted from landfill by 2030.