Just over twelve months ago, Lismore City Council voted to explore Balanced Regional Model C as its preferred waste management model and strategy.

A year later, one significant change forced council to move from C to Balanced Regional Model A.

The catalyst for the change was the one-off $5 million state government grant to council to purchase nine (9) new garbage trucks fitted with the latest technology. Before this grant was allocated, due to its financial position and the $ 5 million cost of replacing its ageing fleet of waste trucks, the decision was made to outsource kerbside pickup.

So, Balanced Regional Model C was adopted at the last council meeting.

Council has been reviewing its waste strategy and management plan. It is taking time to focus on the long-term viability of its waste decisions to benefit the community, not just in the next five years but well into the future.

Lismore City Council's Chief Operating Officer, Brendan Logan, sat down for a chat about its waste facility and the options that are being discussed in our Talking Lismore podcast.

Council is now working to understand the suitability of the Wyrallah Road landfill site and is considering both greenfield and brownfield sites as alternatives.

Due to the damage done to Cell 2B and the constant rain that hinders council's chances of performing a full lining assessment, which includes EPA issues, they have discovered the lifespan of the Wyrallah Road site is shorter than expected. This left Mr Logan and his team to investigate other options. Blakebrook Quarry is one of those options.

Blakebrook Quarry is much larger than Wyrallah Road and could lead to regional solutions if the opportunity arose.

“Any decision would need to consider environmental constraints and the capacity to accommodate a waste facility and quarry operations simultaneously,” Mr Logan added.

Mr Logan also discussed the council's plans for recycling and organics processing. He noted that the council recently shut down its materials recycling facility (commonly known as the MURF) due to safety concerns and is currently temporarily sending its recycling material up to Chinderah. However, he raised concerns about the long-term viability of recycling at Wyrallah Road and suggested that the site could be better utilised. The goal is to minimise the percentage of waste that goes into landfill. Technology now says that 90+% of waste can be recycled. Currently, Lismore City Council's number is around 70%.

“I saw an announcement by Premier Minns a couple of weeks ago about a heavy industry manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Wollongong,” Logan said. “And I read the article and looked at the footprint down there in the industrial zone, and thought, well, we could have something similar for recycling and a circular economy in Lismore."

Mr Logan also discussed the council's plans for organic waste processing and noted that the council is working with the Byron Bay Council to explore potential solutions. He said that the council is making small investments in its shredding and compost support infrastructure to ensure that it can continue to provide the service at Wyrallah Road. However, it is also exploring emerging technologies that could be used to process organic waste more efficiently.

The process of moving our waste facilities back online may take longer than expected, but the end result may be worth waiting for.

Hear the complete podcast by clicking Talking Lismore podcast.