Endeavour Industries suspends council recycling contract due to COVID-19 risk

The move came after Goulburn recycler Endeavour Industries suspended its contract with the council to protect workers from coronavirus.

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The Sinclair Street facility employs people with disabilities. Last week it notified the council that it was no longer available to accept waste.

"As the community is aware, Endeavour Industries employ staff that are more vulnerable than most and the risk factor to them is far greater than other employees in the workforce," a council spokesman said.

"They also sort all of the community's recycling by hand which increases the risk even further."

The parties mutually agreed to suspend the five-year contract which was struck in 2018 after extensive negotiations.

Council general manager Warwick Bennett said it was critical that the reuse of recyclable material continued.

Since the suspension, management has negotiated a three-month contract with the ACT government operated resource management centre near Hume.

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Mr Bennett said the facility had the capacity to accept Goulburn's recycling and there were options to extend this contract, depending on Endeavour's circumstances. The council hopes to continue the long-standing relationship when Endeavor recommences.

"They have said they want to suspend the contract indefinitely so we'll be sending material to Hume for at least three months," he said.

But he has also raised the possibility of the council building its own recycling facility if Endeavour didn't resume.

"We'll be discussing in the next few months what their long-term focus is because we may need to change the design of our waste management centre," Mr Bennett said.

The council previously flagged doing its own waste recycling when negotiations hit a hurdle with Endeavour in 2018. This was subsequently abandoned when agreement was reached but Mr Bennett said depending on what happened, the council might have to make provision.

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It is already well underway with plans for a re-use facility at the waste management centre. It is part of a $4.68 million upgrade. Mr Bennett said this could be redesigned to accommodate larger scale recycling if needed.

He told The Post he fully understood the not-for-profit organisation's need to protect its workers, and due to the "special relationship," the council had taken a pragmatic approach to the contract.

Meantime, kerbside recycling collections will continue as usual. Although Endeavour Industries' Sinclair Street depot will be closed, recyclables will still be accepted at the council's waste management centre nearby.

In related news, the Canberra Regional Organisation of Councils, of which Goulburn Mulwaree is a member, has put a joint prospectus to the federal government on waste management.

The council is also talking to several private companies about waste to energy projects.

The following changes have been made to operating hours at Waste Management Centres in response to COVID-19:

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