Cairns recycling on the rise with recovery facility expansion

Published Tuesday, 16 April, 2019 at 10:03 AM

Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Cameron Dick

The Cairns Material Recovery Facility (MRF) will soon have double the processing capacity, with upgrade works to be supported with funding from Round 4 of the Palaszczuk Government’s $295 million Building our Regions (BoR) program.

The $6.9 million Cairns Material Recovery Facility Upgrade project is receiving $3 million from BoR, with Cairns Regional Council contributing $3.9 million.

Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the facility improvements would lead to even better recovery and recycling results for Cairns, with more than 22 jobs to be supported during upgrade works.

“The upgraded infrastructure will allow the facility to double its processing capacity to 30,000 tonnes of recycling,” Mr Healy said.

“This will see a significant jump in waste diversion from landfill, which will increase to a whopping 90 per cent – up 40 per cent from current figures.

“Off the back of millions in funding from BoR and council, work will soon begin to extend the receival hall, while a new glass-sorting and processing plant will also be delivered.

“Reducing landfill waste aligns with the Palaszczuk Government’s objectives, as well as our new resource recovery and waste strategy, and Queensland’s Container Deposit Scheme.”

Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick said the local recycling opportunities created by the upgraded MRF would be significant.

“We’ll see more items collected locally, diverted from landfill, and, where viable, recycled – all here in Cairns,” Mr Dick said.

“This is a smart, circular approach that will raise the quality of recycling in our state and give us better access to relevant global export markets.

“A scaled-up Cairns MRF will help lessen the region’s environmental footprint and lower the cost of recycling for the Far North.

“It will also potentially allow the city to participate in recycling collection services from other local governments and commercial premises.”

Cairns Regional Council Mayor Bob Manning said the new infrastructure would increase the facility’s viability and create an economic opportunity to decrease waste while improving recycling rates.

“We know our community takes its environmental responsibilities seriously given where we live. This much needed upgrade to the MRF will provide fantastic benefits to Cairns and the region,” Mr Manning.

“It will not only allow us to significantly increase the recovery rate of recyclables, but also as a consequence, significantly reduce the amount of waste needing to go to landfill.”

Round 4 of Building our Regions will see the Palaszczuk Government partner with 37 councils on 49 projects – work which will create an estimated 657 jobs.

Under previous rounds, the program has allocated $225 million to 174 critical infrastructure projects across the state, generating 1762 jobs and attracting additional investment of $353.5 million from councils and other organisations.

Of this, Cairns has benefited almost $3.3 million allocated towards two projects.

Learn more about the Building our Regions program.

ENDS

Media contact: Ben Doyle 0400 775 561