Port Macquarie-Hastings mayor Peter Besseling opened the Kew Waste Transfer Station officially on Wednesday April 26.

He said the new facility is state-of-the-art and replaces the Dunbogan landfill which was approaching capacity.

At the Kew Waste Transfer Station general waste is pushed into a large compactor bin, highly compressed, then transferred to the Cairncross landfill.

“This is completely different to the Dunbogan landfill, you can’t get any more basic than the Dunbogan landfill which is essentially a hole in the ground that we throw rubbish into,” Councillor Besseling said.

“What we will see here is new compactors, which will save a number of garbage truck trips up and down the highway which is fantastic not only from an environmental perspective but also an economic perspective. We will see about four trips a week rather than 15 trips.

“This is an efficient and effective operation. It’s something we should be seeing in our local area. It’s the basis of what council does for rate payers – roads, rates and rubbish.

“It means we won’t have the large trucks driving through the township of Laurieton [to and from the Dunbogan landfill site], they will now be coming here to pick up these bins, just three or four times a week, to take them up to Cairncross.

“This new facility is under budget and on time which is fantastic for the local community.”

The council said the Kew station is an environmentally friendly approach to waste management and will be a one-stop-shop for the people Camden Haven and surrounds to take their rubbish.

The Kew Waste Transfer Station cost of $3.6 million to construct, which includes a $200,000 grant issued by the NSW Environmental Protection Authority. 

In 2013 the estimated cost of construction for the facility was $2.4 million.

“You never know the true cost of construction for a facility like this until it goes out to tender,” Cr Besseling said.

The council accepted the construction tender to the value of $3.6 million from Commercial Project Group Pty Ltd at the July 2016 council meeting.

Sites considered for the construction of the new waste facility included the old Taylor Quarry (which was chosen for the waste management facility in 2000), with an estimated cost of $3.4 million, and the existing Dunbogan landfill site at an estimated cost of $3.4 million to construct a new facility on top of the existing landfill.

In 2014 the council approved the development application for the Kew site, on Herons Creek Road, for the waste transfer facility. Conditions attached to the site for the waste station development included the upgrade and sealing of Herons Creek Road, limiting the daily hours of construction, limiting the hours of operation once the facility was opened, restricting heavy vehicles to using the southern sealed section of Herons Creek Road, and mitigating measures for odour and dust control.

From now, the new waste transfer station accepts domestic solid waste; recyclable goods and materials; timber and green waste; ferrous and non-ferrous metals; inert concrete, masonry and stone; and domestic quantities of listed hazardous materials.

A closure plan for the Dunbogan landfill site began late last year.

Capping of the site, which involves placing compacted clay over the site and topping with soil to promote grass growth, also began last year.

Excess soil and clay from the construction of the Kew Waste Transfer Station will be used for final remediation and capping at the Dunbogan site.

The council will continue to monitor the Dunbogan site on a quarterly basis for landfill gas and surface and ground water.