The City of Cockburn is set to revitalise Henderson Waste Recovery Park into a Resource Recovery Precinct as part of a sustainable long-term waste management strategy. The redevelopment will extend the current site’s useful life from five to 40 years as the City attempts to meet its waste avoidance targets.
At its 10 March Ordinary Council Meeting, Cockburn Council endorsed a $22.5m redevelopment of the site from 2023, including renaming it Cockburn Resource Recovery Precinct to recognise its role of realising the value of products traditionally seen as waste.
In line with the City’s Waste Strategy 2020-2030, the precinct will lease up to four sites to complementary waste businesses to assist reprocessing and reuse of recovered materials like steel, green waste, timber, cardboard, mattresses and electronic waste.
The precinct will include a modern covered community drop-off facility for recyclables and disposables, an education and interpretive centre, a reuse shop, a weighbridge, separate entry for commercial and domestic vehicles, staff amenities, and an administration building.
City of Cockburn Chief of Operations Anton Lees said the new facility would create a sustainable and long-term community asset.
“The redevelopment’s leased areas will create an estimated return on investment of $45.6 million over 40 years and $61.2 million from landfill gate fees. This will enable the City to meet the state government-imposed landfill levy,” Mr Lees said.
“The endorsed business case also enables the retention of residential trailer passes and these leased spaces will be income-generating during the remaining life of the landfill and post closure period.”
Mr Lees said the project aligned with the City’s vision to lead and support a community that avoided waste generation.
“The precinct will reduce environmental impacts by treating waste as a valuable resource to be recovered, reused and recycled utilising the latest technologies available.”
The new facility will be constructed on the southern section of the Henderson site with access off Dalison Avenue.
The redevelopment aligns with the City’s Climate Change Strategy 2020-2030 which aims for zero non-hazardous waste going to landfill by 2030, and is in line with the three key objectives of the State Government’s Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030:
- Avoid – Generate less waste
- Recover – Recover more value and resources from waste
- Protect – Protect the environment by managing waste responsibly
The plan builds on the City’s new waste future which includes transition to Energy from Waste for general waste from the kerbside red lid bin from 2023, a third bin for garden waste, the introduction of a 140L general waste bin across the City, and the incorporation of smart technology for improved efficiency of waste collections.
The City collects and disposes of waste from about 43,000 households, including general waste, green waste, junk waste and recyclables, and its current population of 112,000 is projected to increase to over 170,000 by 2036.
