New deal keeps seven councils’ recyclables onshore and creates about 20 jobs

All recyclables from seven Adelaide councils will be processed in Australia under a landmark three-year deal which will create about 20 jobs.

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All recyclables collected across seven Adelaide councils will be processed in Australia under a landmark three-year deal between East Waste and the Northern Adelaide Waste Management Authority (NAWMA).

East Waste – a subsidiary of Burnside, Campbelltown, Mitcham, Norwood, Payneham & St Peters, Prospect, Walkerville and Adelaide Hills councils – collects more than 20 per cent of Adelaide’s 120,000 tonnes of kerbside recycling each year.

It has had a temporary nine-month contract with NAWMA after it terminated its contract with SKM Recycling last September.

SKM had been selling some recyclables to China until the country refused to accept material contaminated by glass, creating what has become known as China Sword.

NAWMA has assured East Waste that all recycling will be processed within Australia.

The new deal will create around 20 full-time positions.

East Waste had been paying around $60 a tonne for processing under the temporary arrangement.

It refused to say what it will pay under the new agreement.

East Waste deputy chairman Paul Di Iulio said recyclables would be processed at the lowest possible cost with “transparent public reporting” on where it ended up.

“This (transparency) is difficult for private companies that necessarily will not divulge this information for reasons of commercial confidentiality,” Mr Di Iulio said.

“With NAWMA, there is no such constraint so our councils can confidently and openly report to their communities.

“The value and the advantage of candour is that it reassures community confidence that their recycling efforts are honoured all the way up the chain.”

An East Waste spokesman said the bulk of the paper would be sold to Norske Skog in Albury, which created print paper for The Advertiser.

East Waste will also benefit from a new NAWMA innovation to reuse broken glass.

NAWMA, a subsidiary of Playford, Salisbury and Gawler councils, processes waste and recyclables from around 25 per cent of residents in metropolitan Adelaide.