Reimagining Kelso Creating a Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility February 2022
Summerhill Solar Farm, City of Newcastle
Reimagining waste The Kelso Waste Facility opened as a landfill site in 1951. Since then, there has been some big changes that have impacted how we manage our waste. These changes have been: 1971: The introduction of the landfill levy by the State Government, which imposed an additional cost when sending waste to landfill. This levy started at $0.56 per tonne. 1980s: The introduction of recycling collected in crates and backyard incinerators were banned. 2002: Wheelie bins for recycling were introduced. 2018: China enforced new legislation that impacted the quality of recyclable material that it was importing. Council is committed to decreasing the level of contamination and creating local recycling options. 2020: The Australian Federal Government put a ban on the export of waste materials, including glass, plastic, tyres and paper. 2021: The landfill levy is now $147.10 per tonne, which is key driver in needing to divert waste from landfill and increase resource recovery. 2022: We are envisioning a new and better approach to how we manage our waste, with the focus for Kelso moving from waste disposal to resource recovery and creating local jobs. Resource recovery is the engine that drives the circular economy. The circular model is one where the waste materials from one industry become the inputs for others; the products are re-used for as long as possible. This has a lot of benefits including saving money and it’s friendly to the environment. As the circular economy develops, it gets more innovative with new technologies and processes, and builds industries that create jobs all whilst reducing landfill.
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Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
We see the value in recycling – now we’re looking at ways to save more resources and materials from landfill. Encouraging a circular economy to increase recycling of different materials is how we are reimagining the future. The Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility will be a state-of-the-art, modern facility that will help us to manage our waste efficiently to support a more resilient and liveable community.
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About Kelso Kelso Waste Management Facility is currently used for three main purposes: 1. A landfill for Council general waste; 2. Crushing construction and demolition waste for reuse in our construction projects; and 3. De-contamination of green bin waste.
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Key aspirations Our overall aspiration is to create a wasteless generation. We’re taking the first steps toward that aspiration. Our Local Strategic Planning Statement, known as Connective City 2028, outlines our targets.
By 2036, our target is to divert 80 per cent of material from landfill.
To make this aspiration a reality, we envision Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility providing infrastructure that will include: Helping the community recycle difficult things •
A Community Recycling Centre to recycle more than nine types of hard to dispose-of household items.
Continuing to build new roads from old roads •
An advanced processing facility for construction and demolition waste.
Taking heavy trucks off local roads
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200kg waste generation per person per year.
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Access from Henry Lawson Drive moving 80 trucks a day off local roads.
Cutting emissions and miles by locating trucks onsite
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Depot facilities for waste collection vehicles.
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Bulking up facilities to transport recyclable materials for further processing.
Using landfill capacity to transition •
Staged closure of the landfill.
Generating renewable energy onsite •
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Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
Green energy initiatives.
Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
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The next seven years
What we’re NOT going to do
The next 20 years start with a vision for the next seven. By 2028, our vision is to build and operationalise the following.
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Helping the community recycle difficult things A Community Recycling Centre is a place to recycle more than nine different types of hard to dispose-of items including electronics, batteries and paint. It will be open all year round.
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Community Education Centre
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Community Reuse Centre
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A reuse centre is a place for the community to donate good quality household items or grab a pre-loved item at an amazing bargain price.
Continuing to build new roads from old roads
Kelso Sustainability Resource Recovery Facility
Taking heavy trucks off local roads Remove 80 trucks a day and other vehicles from the surrounding residential streets by seeking access to the site from Henry Lawson Drive.
Relocation of depot for waste collection vehicles Investigate options for relocating some collection trucks from other sites in the City to a purpose-built depot so our team can run an even more efficient service and remove even more trucks from suburban roads.
A centre to educate the community and school students on resource recovery and living more sustainably.
Keeping valuable material out of landfill and circulating in the economy is essential for achieving resource recovery. We’ll continue to turn broken road material back into roads.
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Landfill operations Seek an extension of the landfill licence, for non-food waste for a limited time. This will assist with managing waste while we transition to a circular economy model with a view to becoming truly wasteless.
While we are making some significant changes to the site to create the Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility there are a number of changes we won’t be making.
We will not dispose of red bin waste in the landfill nor will we build or operate an incinerator for material from the red bin. We will not remove the trees and plants that screen the site from surrounding view (and overtime we will increase vegetation cover).
e will not disturb areas that are W assessed as having medium or high biodiversity value.
We will not build or operate processing facilities that have high impacts on the surrounding area.
The next seven years
1. Help the community recycle difficult things* Recycling your paper, cardboard, bottles, jars and cans is easy; just sort them and drop them into your home recycling bin. But what do you do with difficult and dangerous items? By working with the NSW EPA and making the Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility accessible to the community we aim to make recycling materials that can’t go in your bin at home easy to dispose-of, and keep them out of the environment. Residents will be able to drop off paint, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, motor and cooking oils, car and household batteries, fluorescent tubes and globes, and smoke detectors. With easier public access and appropriate facilities, we can help our community dispose of these items responsibly.
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Hornsby Shire Council
Hornsby Shire Council
Inner West Council
Penrith City Council
Randwick City Council
Liverpool City Council
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*Subject to NSW EPA approval.
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Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
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The next seven years
The next seven years
2. Community Education Centre
4. Continuing to build new roads from old roads This material includes waste from construction and demolition of buildings, roads, and other structures. We will continue to aggregate, sort and transfer materials to improve their recoverability.
The centre will be dedicated to helping residents implement sustainable living ideas into everyday life, through hands-on workshops on topics including growing fruit and vegetables at home, composting and worm farming. Local schools will be able to participate in workshops designed to support primary and secondary school curriculum outcomes and tour Kelso’s resource recovery facilities.
We will look to expand our current on-site processing of rocks, soil and concrete collected through our construction and demolition projects recycled each year. We’ll be turning broken road material back into roads.
Kimbriki Eco House and Garden
annually
The centre’s role will be to save good quality household items from going to landfill and to renew their value by making them available for reuse by families, students, artists and community groups. Items will be available to purchase at low cost and will help everyone in the community to be part of the circular economy vision. Bowerhouse Community Reuse Centre
Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
tonnes
$4m
3. Community Reuse Centre
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20,000
We’re already saving 20,000 tonnes of commercial and demolition waste from landfill at Kelso each year, but we envision increasing this to 30,000 tonnes a year. Diversion of commercial and demolition waste from landfill represents a waste levy saving in excess of $4 million annually.
The next seven years
5. Take heavy trucks off local roads Remove 80 trucks and other vehicles from the surrounding residential streets by seeking access to the site from Henry Lawson Drive. (Subject to Transport for NSW approval). Working closely with Transport for NSW, we envision a changed entry point to divert heavy vehicles to Henry Lawson Drive, relieving pressure on the residential Bransgrove Road. There are approximately 80 trucks per day and therefore these truck movements could be moved onto the major road of Henry Lawson Drive.
This will have several benefits for the community.
Reduced traffic bottlenecks and queuing on Bransgrove Road.
Reduced damage to local roads unsuitable for heavy trucks.
Image render on the right: Site access off Henry Lawson Drive.
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Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
A better route for waste operations, improving speed of service.
Reduced air pollution from truck exhaust in residential areas.
The next seven years
6. Relocation of depot for waste collection vehicles We currently operate waste collection vehicles from a depot. As a part of our vision, we will investigate the options to move our waste operations to a purpose-built depot where our team can run an even more efficient waste service and remove even more heavy trucks off suburban roads.
7. Landfill operations Landfill operations at Kelso will continue ensuring the safe and secure disposal of our City’s general waste.
As the only council in Greater Sydney with control over their own landfill site, we are able to plan for more sustainable and community uses. The landfill will be closed in the next 20 years and rehabilitated with a solar farm. In preparation for the vision, the final landform design will be developed to provide greater community access and installation of solar panels.
Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
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Community recycling centre
Education field study centre
Council waste depot
Green energy plant
Community environment centre
Construction and demolition processing
Future resource recovery
Site offices
Closed landfill
Kerbside bulking facility
Water retention basin
Weighbridges and gatehouse
Solar cells
Heavy vehicle access
Cycle path
20 Year Vision of Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
Site area
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Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
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After the first seven years Over the next 20 years, we envision Kelso becoming more sustainable and diverting waste from landfill. The future of Kelso may include: •
Solar panels to create renewable power;
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A resource recovery area, an enclosed facility that extracts material from waste, so that it can be turned into new products and diverted from landfill;
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A transfer facility, where collected recyclable materials can be separated, compacted, and loaded into a special purpose, long-haul vehicle for transport to processing or disposal sites;
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A microfactory to transform electronic waste, such as mobile phones and laptops into valuable materials for reuse;
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Investigating the feasibility of a green energy facility, to reduce the use of fossil fuels; and
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A facility to divert food waste from landfill.
We will further engage with our community when we consider these exciting projects.
Conclusion The aim is to make this important site work for the residents of the City of Canterbury Bankstown. This Masterplan sets a strategic vision for this important site for the resident of Canterbury-Bankstown. One which reduced impact on the community, with cleaner more sustainable delivery of services. A modern Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility will prepare us to be the wasteless generation. For information on the public exhibition, please visit cb.city/Kelso
Image on the right: Kimbriki Eco House and Garden
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Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery Facility
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cb.city/Kelso Hard copies are printed on 100% recycled paper. Limited numbers are printed.
Over the next 20 years, we envision Kelso Sustainable Resource Recovery facility to be home to more community uses. These uses include: •
A Community Environmental Centre to educate the community and school students on resource recovery and diversion of waste from landfill.
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Solar panels to create renewable power.
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A resource recovery area, an enclosed facility that extracts material from waste, so that it can be turned into new products and diverted from landfill.
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A transfer facility, where collected recyclable materials can be separated, compacted, and loaded into a special purpose, long-haul vehicle for transport to processing or disposal sites.
We will further engage with our community when we consider these exciting projects