Key stakeholders were treated to a guided tour of the new $5 million Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) at Cleanaway’s Lavington depot on Friday, November 10.

The plant has created 12 new jobs locally and has been up and running since the end of September.

But it was the first chance for mayors and representatives from Albury, Wodonga, Hume, Federation and Indigo councils to see exactly what happens to the recyclables collected from ratepayers’ yellow bins.

A combination of high-tech sorting equipment and manual labour means the facility can process cardboard, paper, plastics, glass, steel and aluminium from the region’s homes and businesses.

Cleanaway’s Albury branch manager David Collins said his team had worked tirelessly to have the MRF operational in a short space of time and well ahead of this week’s official opening.

“We can now locally process the recycling we collect from more than 53,000 homes and businesses in the region, further supporting our commitment to the Halve Waste initiative to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill,” he said.

Cleanaway general manager for Victoria Clete Elms said the opening of the Albury MRF was a demonstration of the company’s commitment to creating a sustainable future for Australia.

“It’s a significant investment for Cleanaway in line with our Footprint 2025 plan,” he said.

The new facility includes a glass crusher, which is able to recycle glass into a sand product used in local road construction and as a sand/aggregate replacement.

Cleanaway previously sent its recycled material from the five local government areas to “accredited recycling facilities” in Melbourne and Canberra.

The MRF was transported from Mandurah, in Western Australia, by road train and took about three months to install and commission.

Friday’s opening comes in the wake of Cleanaway’s plans to build a compost facility at Howlong, which has drawn the ire of residents due to the proposed site’s proximity to the township.