TAMWORTH could be in line for a rubbish overhaul with a weekly food waste collection flagged by council for the future.
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Tamworth Regional Council is in the process of searching for a new site for its organic recycling plant, after the initial location, near the airport, was shot down by a regional planning authority.
Staff seemingly have a few new sites in mind and will “request direction” from council “with regard to potential property procurement options” for the facility in a closed meeting on Tuesday.
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While finding a location is the first priority, mayor Col Murray said the facility could spell big changes for waste collection in the council area.
“Part of it will be a review into the way council collects rubbish,” he told The Leader.
Cr Murray said it could see the green bin collection ratcheted-up to a weekly cycle, giving residents the option of recycling kitchen food scraps.
He said kitchen scraps would be put in a separate bio-degradable bag in the green bin and converted into a fertiliser, or soil conditioning, product at the organic recycling facility.
Initially, council would provide the food scraps’ bag to residents, he said.
Cr Murray said organic recycling was something council had “dragged its feet on”.
“It’s a good process for a city the size of Tamworth,” he said.
“We consider ourselves a modern city and it’s just a matter of walking the walk.”
There could also be an opportunity for bio-digester energy production at the facility.
It was announced in October 2016 the proposed organic recycling plant would be located near the airport, on the western side of town.
The Joint Regional Planning Panel voted-down the $5 million facility citing a potential impact on “future plans for expansion of the Tamworth Regional Airport”.
The panel also listed aircraft bird-strikes, noise, flooding, bio-security and odour among its concerns with the proposal.
Property-owners near the initial site said the original location was “just crazy” and held fears for farming bio-security in the area.
“The risks are small but the consequences would be tremendous,” David Gowing said.
In the proposal for the recycling plant, it was estimated the facility would process up to 32,000 tonnes of waste a year.
Cr Murray said it was also important to open-up more capacity at the Forest Road landfill by shifting organic waste out of its intake.
“We need to get the best value out of the product,” he said.
“In this day and age, it’s not acceptable to be burying waste there that’s not necessarily needed.”