Benalla Rural City Council has partnered with 11 other local government areas, and Alpine resorts, in a collaborative tender for kerbside waste and recycling services.
Collaborators include Wangaratta Rural City, Moira Shire, Mitchell Shire, Strathbogie Shire and Mansfield Shire.
Through their participation in this regional collaborative tender group, they are taking an important step towards reducing material to landfill, supporting a sustainable regional circular economy and driving economic growth.
A request for tender has been released this week which will cover long-term contracts for the collection, transport and processing/disposal of commingled recycling, glass, food organics and garden organics (FOGO), and general waste.
The collaborative procurement, which is part of the Resource Recovery Collective — Hume (RRCH), is one of the largest of its kind in regional Victoria.
The initiative will also help councils and Alpine resorts to implement actions set out within the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy, supporting the region’s transition toward a low-carbon, circular economy.
Kristy Kay, executive officer of the North East Waste and Resource Recovery Group, said councils and Alpine resorts across the Hume region had a successful history of working together to procure recycling services.
“They have demonstrated a clear commitment to achieving improved performance of their waste and recycling systems, and this partnership is an exciting opportunity to extend on that work to achieve strong environmental, economic and community-focused outcomes,” Ms Kay said.
“Collaborative waste management procurements offer significant volumes of recyclables to the market, achieving economies of scale for councils and Alpine resorts, and providing more certainty for industry — which is likely to attract greater levels of investment in infrastructure.”
Director of infrastructure services at the Rural City of Wangaratta, Marcus Goonan, said that participating councils and Alpine resorts recognised the role they played in building a strong and resilient recycling system.
“By sharing some of the benefits and risk with industry, we can offer certainty for contractors who, in turn, can provide cost-effective, safe, innovative and reliable recycling solutions for our communities,” Mr Goonan said.