A CONTROVERSIAL $15 million Organic Waste Recycling Facility has the conditional go-ahead from the Northern Regional Planning Panel.
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The first stage that allows green waste to be processed is approved, but more difficult organic matter like offal from abattoirs will begin on a trial basis later on.
Wednesday marked the second time the project had been before panel chair Paul Mitchell, who said initial concerns about a "lack of transparency" and biosecurity risks had been satisfied.
"There was lots of community concern, but the process has been unusually thorough," he said.
"The other factor we took into account is specialist agencies like the Department of Primary Industry and Environment (DPIE) and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) that deal with biosecurity risks and even NSW Transport endorsed or gave no objections to the proposal."
For the public, it means kitchen scraps will one day go in the green bin instead of the red.
'Kitchen caddies' and compostable bags will be given to residents, the green bin will be collected once a week and the red bin fortnightly.
Landfill will be reduced by up to 35,000 tonnes of waste each year, TRC water and waste director Bruce Logan said.
"It will extend the life of the landfill considerably and turn it into compost, which is a valuable product," he said.
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"We're on a tight timeframe, we need to have the facility up and operating before June 2022, when the new waste contracts will start collecting food and organics in the green bin."
Expressions of interest for the design and construction of the proposal were put out before it was approved to meet the deadline.
The site is on Appleby Road, which the panel felt had been thoughtfully chosen, Mr Mitchell said.
"We pressed the council engineers and waste staff on this and they clearly explained the logic behind the selection," he said.
The council had the project independently assessed as well as a technical review completed.