Council has bagged an Excellence in the Environment award for its recycling trial of engineered timber.

Held annually by Local Government NSW, the Excellence in the Environment awards aim to recognise outstanding achievements by NSW councils in managing and protecting the environment. 

Council won the award in the Transition to a Circular Economy category for our Let’s ReDirect Our Engineered Timber out of Landfill! project.

The Circular Economy is a term used to refer to circulating materials in the economy for as long as possible through repair, reuse and recycling of products into new products.

Council’s trial to recycle engineered timber ran from May 2022 to July 2023. The trial was conducted in conjunction with Kimbriki Environmental Enterprises and waste management firm, reDirect Recycling.

During the trial, engineered timber was either picked up kerbside via Council’s bulky goods collections, was dropped off by residents and trades people at Kimbriki and separated there, or was manually sorted and recovered from mixed waste at Kimbriki.

Collectively, the trial resulted in more than 1,000 tonnes (1,171 tonnes) of timber that didn’t end up in landfill and was remanufactured into kitchen cabinets and other joinery.

Sydney’s available landfill space is currently forecast to run out in the next 15-25 years. In order to extend the life of Kimbriki‘s landfill site it is vital that new recovery models are trialled.

This trial has also been driven by demand for recycled products. ReDirect have been able to successfully use and promote recycled content in their manufactured products, which has created value for scrap engineered timbers that would otherwise still be considered as waste.

The trial is an example of the types of initiatives in line with Council’s long-term Waste and Circular Economy Strategy 2040, which is currently open for community feedback until 10 December on Council’s Your Say page.