Cade Lucas
Wyndham’s first recycling depot for Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) will open by the end of July.
“We’ll officially get the keys on the 24th,” said Rob Brown, chief chance creator at social enterprise Recycle4Change who are the Wyndham network operator for the CDS and who will operate the Point Cook facility.
“The equipment is already installed and has been commissioned and we will be singulating containers by the end of the month.”
The opening will come almost 12 months after Wyndham council voted in favour of leasing a vacant property in Wallace Avenue to Recycle4Change so it could establish a container deposit recycling facility there.
However, the close proximity of the proposed depot to the Wyndham pound and animal adoption centre, led to fierce opposition from vets and animal welfare campaigners concerned about the impact of machinery noise on dogs and cats next door.
After agreeing to strict conditions including restricted operating hours and acoustic and vibration testing, Recycle4Change’s proposal was narrowly approved by council’s planning committee in December.
Mr Brown said there have been further delays since, but thanked Wyndham council for its support.
“We had to do some refitting to the building and obviously and to get through the proper planning processes, but council have been fantastic,” he said.
“The support from council since we got the agreement to use the building has been stunning.”
Mr Brown said 14 people had already been employed to work at the Point Cook depot and were currently undergoing training at Recycle4Change’s existing recycling depot in Geelong.
“They’re primarily women and juveniles who’ve been exposed to or impacted by the justice system,” he said.
Recycle4Change and sister organisation Fruit2Work are social enterprises that specialise in employing ex-prisoners.
Mr Brown said the depot’s workforce would likely double in the next 18 months, with the Point Cook facility expected to be 30 per cent busier than its North Geelong counterpart.
With each container attracting a 10 cent refund, he said that would mean more money coming into Point Cook and Wyndham.
“We’ve done 6 million containers already at our North Geelong site since November.
That’s allowed the scheme to create $600,000 worth of revenue and income for marginalised people of North Geelong and we expect it will do the same for Wyndham if not more so.”
