WORK on Orange’s new waste disposal facility in Euchareena Road finally got underway yesterday but the years of delay will mean a much better outcome in the end.
The current facility evolved from the Hub, the regional waste facility which so incensed residents of Cabonne that it ended up in the Land and Environment Court.
Whether Orange City Council, residents and the region would have ended up with the improvements the Euchareena Road site now offers without the scrutiny of Cabonne residents is doubtful, but the end result is what counts now.
The days of large scale dumping of unsorted garbage are long gone, and the saga of the design, approval and construction of this waste management system is a sign of things to come across the state and probably across the country.
The alarming fact is that even in a regional setting like Orange suitable landfill sites are becoming difficult to find and even more difficult to sell to surrounding communities.
There are several parts to the solution. Obviously the most important is for households to generate as little waste as possible.
Home composting of organic matter and careful sorting of packaging and other recyclable material should be a must for every household.
Beyond the household, and the extra green organics bin which is part of the new waste processing regime, the task falls to Orange council and the site operator to ensure as little as possible is eventually compressed into bales and buried.
When organic matter and all possible recyclable metals, glass and plastics are removed the remaining waste is what will end up at Euchareena Road.
It is more expensive than backing a garbage truck up to a giant hole and dumping anything and everything into it but that is the reality we face and one that Orange will be far better placed to meet.