Townsville City Council is preparing to deliver an upgrade at the Stuart Waste Facility, helping to secure the city’s landfill capacity well into the future.
The works will include the construction of two additional landfill cells over the next 12 months, as well as a new high-efficiency sediment pond at Townsville’s only active landfill. The upgrades are designed to meet environmental standards for decades ahead.
Mayor Nick Dametto said the project would help ensure ratepayers are not faced with the cost of developing a completely new landfill site in the near term.
“As a city we send around 200,000 tonnes of waste to the facility every year, that’s enough rubbish to fill more than 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools,” Dametto said.
“With more than 200,000 residents and over 80,000 properties our team collect 50,000 general waste wheelie bins each week, all of which end up at Stuart and in one of these cells.
“The cost of a new landfill facility is estimated at more than $100 million, which would be a huge expense to ratepayers, so projects like this one that extend the lifespan of our primary landfill are critical.
“If we can continue to also increase our recycling and diversion of recoverable resources from landfill, our Stuart site can last to around 2050.
“As Mayor, I’m committed to leading a council that delivers value for money services – the basics our community expect, and does them well – and that filters down from having the facilities and infrastructure in place to ensure we can do just that.”
Dametto said Council had awarded the construction contract to local company Mendi Constructions, with up to $21 million committed to the overall project, including planning, compliance, approvals, quality assurance, project management, and supporting works at the Stuart Waste Facility site.
“Not only is this a major project, but it’s an important one for the future of Townsville, which is why I’m pleased to have Mendi involved, a local business that has contributed to the city’s growth,” he said.
“A project of this scale is expected to take around 12 months to complete, weather permitting, and during that time will support more than 50 local jobs across onsite crews, suppliers, and supporting services.
“Building landfill cells is expensive, which is why we need to prioritise recycling and keeping reusable materials out of landfill.
“Strict environmental regulations also add to costs, so the longer we can extend the life of our landfill cells, the more we can direct ratepayer funds into other city-shaping projects.”