City of Greater Geraldton spends $1 million to crush 23,000t of rubble legacy pile at Meru Waste Facility

The City of Greater Geraldton will spend $1 million to crush 23,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste accumulating at the Meru Waste Facility. Since establishing a transfer station to separate and recycle waste, construction materials such as concrete, brick and rubble have piled up at the site. Last year, 20,000t of rubble was crushed as part of the transfer station project, leaving a pile of 68,000t left over, which it is estimated will cost the city $3m to clear. In December, the Department of Water and Environmental Protection amended the city’s premises licence to allow 60,000t of rubble material to be crushed per calendar year instead of 20,000t. According to an end-of-year financial report, city spending was below the forecast 2024-25 budget, enabling it to allocate funds to crush the waste and avoid non-compliance, free-up space for future waste pond developments, acquire the recycled material to use on-site, and avoid incorrect disposal via landfill. The crushed material is estimated to have a resale value of $345,000, which would act as a cost offset to the city’s $1m expenditure. On Tuesday January 28, councillors approved spending $1m to crush 23,000t of materials, and directed the CEO to plan for future crushing costs in the 2025-26 budget and in the city’s long term financial planning; and to advertise for tender in July for the crushing of 20,000t. Cr Michael Librizzi said the city needed to be forward-thinking and plan for the future when there may be no savings available to spend. “We have an ongoing liability out at the tip with this pile of waste,” he said. “We’ve got a DWER licence with obligations to it that we have to satisfy, and there’s a cost associated with managing that rubble pile.” The motion passed 9-0, and the project is expected to take place in March.