The Lismore and Northern Rivers community has been asking the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA) about how much recycling is taking place when a Resilient Homes Program buyback house is deemed not fit for relocation.

The NSWRA says it is committed to maximising opportunities to relocate buyback homes purchased by the RA under the $880m Resilient Homes Program and that relocating homes that are structurally sound to a safer location is always the first option.

Homes that are not able to be relocated will be identified for demolition, adopting deconstruction practices to support the maximum removal, recycling and reuse of materials, with the aim of reducing the amount going to landfill.

The NSWRA has said that contractors engaged in the demolition of the first group of 19 structurally unsound homes and the removal of material from a further 8 properties, where the previous owner has relocated the home in the Northern Rivers, have been able to recycle about 72 per cent of materials.

Timber, metal, concrete and organics have been able to be recycled and re-used.

To the end of October, 64.66 tonnes of metal had been recycled, 972.2 tonnes of concrete, 79.84 tonnes of organics, and 23.07 tonnes of timber had been reclaimed.

The timber is being stored pending the results of two trials announced by the RA in August.

The concrete is being crushed and screened and used for road base and for things like fill behind retaining walls.

Organics are shredded, and a magnet is passed over them to remove metals before being used for landfill cover and/or garden mulch.

Metal is going to local recyclers and melted down for further use.

As previously announced, work is underway on two trials involving the RA, Living Lab Northern Rivers, the RA’s home removal contractor, and a regional recycling expert, to identify cost-effective and efficient ways to recycle homes bought back through the Resilient Homes Program. 

The first is a timber recycling trial, led by Associate Professor at the UTS School of Design Berto Pandolfo and involves the deconstruction of two buyback homes and the identification of any timber that has the potential to be reused. 

A second recycling trial will also be conducted to test the cost-effectiveness of separation methods for reuse on residential and commercial projects. This trial will inform the framework for recycling future buyback homes.

Results from these two trials are expected to inform the next stage of the RA’s recycling and reuse program.