An artist’s impression of the new recycling facility in Hume. Image: ACT Government.
The cost of the new recycling plant to replace the one gutted by the 2022 Boxing Day fire will be almost $37 million, $11 million more than previously stated.
The new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) was originally slated to cost $26 million, funded jointly by the ACT and Federal governments.
The higher figure is listed in the development application now available on the Planning website. The difference is being picked up by Veolia, the waste management giant, which in January 2025 inked an $850 million deal with the ACT Government to design, build and operate the new state-of-the-art MRF.
Under the contract, Veolia will operate the plant for 20 years.
A government spokesperson said the project was being delivered through a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer delivery model, which involved Veolia financing the delivery phase costs.
The $26 million represents the Capital Contribution the Territory is making to the project during the delivery phase, including the Commonwealth contribution, rather than the overall cost.
“The remainder of the overall delivery phase cost will be funded by Veolia,” the spokesperson said.
“In turn, the Territory will provide monthly service payments to Veolia during the 20-year operating period, which cover both operating and a recovery of capital costs.”
The construction cost in the development application relates to the construction of the facility and fit-out of essential services, excluding plant and equipment.
Construction of the new recycling facility was expected to start in 2026, subject to planning approvals.
“The facility remains on track to be operational in 2028,” the spokesperson said.
The DA for the new MRF, to be built on the site of the previous MRF in Hume, includes the construction of processing and support buildings, landscaping, internal access roads and essential infrastructure.
It also includes an education building for community and school visits, carpark, three verge crossovers, an internal driveway, landscaping, earthworks, and utilities works.
The total cost is listed as $36,972,799.
The new facility will be able to sort paper and cardboard, glass, plastic, steel and aluminium using sophisticated technology that will increase recovery rates and deliver higher-quality recyclable materials.
The technology includes a glass purification plant, sophisticated automatic recognition, screens to separate paper, laser optical identification with air jets to separate plastics and powerful magnets to extract metals.
The government says the new MRF will be able to process up to 115,000 tonnes of mixed recyclables per year, up to 50,000 tonnes more per year than the previous facility.
The ACT is currently sending 46,000 tonnes of mixed-use recyclables interstate for processing each year.
The facility has also been designed with state-of-the-art fire detection, mitigation, and control systems to prevent a recurrence of the 2022 blaze, which was caused by lithium battery ignition.
The Hume site was cleared from September last year, with demolition of the fire-damaged buildings taking several months.
More than 100 jobs will be created during construction of the new recycling facility, and there will be an estimated 24 permanent roles as part of the facility’s operations once completed.
The MRF project has been controversial with the Canberra Liberals claiming last year the business case did not stack up.
They say it would be more cost-effective and efficient use recycling facilities interstate but the government countered that the Liberals had misrepresented the business case.
The DA is open for comments until 10 March
