Funding for Transfer Station at Murrayville
Published on 18 June 2015
Mildura Rural City Council has secured funding to build a new Waste Transfer Station at Murrayville.
Council applied for funding from Sustainability Victoria’s Rural and Regional Landfill Support program, with the new station set to replace the current unlicensed landfill which has been earmarked for closure by June 2017.
The Rural and Regional Landfill Support Program aims to support Councils in their planning for landfill closure planning, as well as the development of transfer stations and resource recovery centres to replace closing landfills. The program specifically targets Council owned landfills in regional Victoria.
Environmental Sustainability portfolio Councillor Judi Harris said Murrayville residents will see very little change to their service, but the funding does signal a significant change to environmental practices.
“This is great news, the funding support is very important,” Cr Harris said. “With compliance pressures in operating an unlicensed landfill ever increasing, Council started some time ago to look for new ways to service this part of our community, while decreasing our environmental impact from landfilling activities. Continuing to put waste into the ground when it can be recycled is no longer an accepted practice.”
Construction of the new Transfer Station is due to start in July 2015 with Sustainability Victoria contributing $150,000 to the $300,000 project.
Once completed, Council will then begin the process of rehabilitating the landfill site.
“Council has a responsibility to remediate old landfill sites,” Cr Harris explained. “Initially we will ‘cap’ the landfill with 1.3m of soil and then replant native vegetation on the site. Council will then need to maintain the old landfill site and monitor the surrounding environment for at least the next ten years.”
The new transfer station will be equipped with full recycling services, with waste to be transferred to Mildura Landfill for disposal. The new transfer station will also allow better data collection on how much is going to landfill and how much is being recycled from the Murrayville community. Council is hoping the new system will see recycling increase and the amount of general waste reduced significantly.
“This is an important project for Murrayville and for Council,” Cr Harris said. “We have a responsibility to use more sustainable and environmentally-friendly waste disposal options.”
ENDS