Tamworth Regional Council agrees to enter long-term contract for kerbside recyclables processing

The Leader can reveal Tamworth Regional Council agreed during a closed meeting to enter a long-term contract with a company to provide kerbside recyclables processing.

Council's water and waste director Bruce Logan confirmed lengthy negotiations had finally been successful.

Councillors were updated on "negotiations with various parties" for a long-term contract to provide kerbside recyclables processing.

The report also sought to seek council's approval to enter into a contract with one of the companies.

When questioned after the closed council session, Mr Logan confirmed that, "yes", council did approve to enter into a contract with one of the parties.

Cleanaway already has a seven-year deal with council but that does not include processing.

For more than a decade Cleanaway had sub-contracted local disability workforce group Challenge to deal with recycling at its Tamworth depot.

Challenge's recycling processing contract with council ran out in July 2021, and despite lengthy negotiations, a resolution was not reached.

Although recycling hasn't been heading to the local depot for sorting, council assured residents their rubbish hasn't been going to waste.

"Kerbside recycling is not sorted in Tamworth," Mr Logan told the Leader.

"Cleanaway has a contract with Tamworth Regional Council to transport the region's kerbside recycling to Sydney for processing."

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Tamworth mayor Russell Webb said council was getting on with it when it came to finding a solution.

"In terms of the recycling we are moving forward at a rapid rate of knots," he said after the meeting.

"There is an organisation we are entering into some negotiations with to help us do that in a very productive way.

"Of course in terms of where they're going to go and what they're going to spend and what that business is going to do is probably somewhat commercial-in-confidence just at present."

Cr Webb said it was important that deals council made had to be with companies that had a market for the recycling products.

"As we move forward into next year there will be some changes and the public will be made quite aware of those changes," he said.

"We have to have businesses that can actually make this product and recycle and have a market for it, so there's no point of recycling for recycling's sake, there has to be a market for those products that are being recycled."

Tamworth council announced it had purchased the Materials Recycling Facility at the city's tip earlier this year for an undisclosed amount and would operate it from December.

Cr Webb said at the time that running the facility directly would keep the Tamworth region at the cutting-edge of recycling.

Challenge's recycling processing contract with council ran out in July 2021, and despite lengthy negotiations, a resolution was not reached between the two.

This deal would mark the first since that contract expired.

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