Five “tipwell” machines taken offline at Brisbane City Council resource recovery centres

Hi-tech equipment at Brisbane waste recovery centres have been suddenly taken offline after an electrical subcontractor came forward with concerns.

A RECYCLING company has quickly pulled tipping machines used at four Brisbane City Council waste facilities after a subcontractor went public with alleged safety issues.

New “tipwell” machines were installed by Cleanaway at council’s Nudgee Beach, Willawong, Ferny Grove and Chandler resource recovery centres in March last year but needed to be turned off after issues were discovered with their emergency stop buttons.

The machines allow workers and the public to throw waste into large bins, which then tip backwards to empty into the rubbish dump.

Despite being rectified and put back into service, Brisbane City Council yesterday told The Courier-Mail that operator Cleanaway would again pull the machines from service “out of an abundance of caution.”

The tipwell machines separate the general public from the rubbish dump by allowing them to

Sub-contracted electrician Matthew Collard, who first raised issues with the machines, has now gone public with his concerns after a months-long battle with a third party, Mid West Engineering, to be paid $13,500 for his work.

Mr Collard said safety inspections he conducted showed the machines weren’t allegedly compliant with Australian standards.

“If you press the emergency stop and then release it, it would start again,” he said.

“The machine should not start, but their machine does start.”

Mr Collard said he advised New Zealand-based company Mid West Engineering, who installed the five bins, to rectify the emergency stop mechanism.

Cleanaway operates Brisbane’s four resource recovery centres. Picture: Thomas Morgan./

Following inquiries from The Courier-Mail, a Brisbane City Council spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the tipwell machines would be temporarily taken out of service until a reinspection was completed.

Thespokeswoman said there would be no impact to waste recovery centres.

A Cleanaway spokesman earlier in the day said the machines were rectified after Mr Collard raised the issue.

“All units are back in service except Willawong which still requires to be upgraded,” the spokesman said.

“The upgrade will occur in the near future.”

Mid West Engineering was contacted for comment.