Nambour Landfill Expansion Project
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Where is the Nambour Landfill located?
The Nambour landfill is located on Cooney
Road off the Bruce Highway, 2.4km north
east of Nambour and 1.8km south east of
Parklands.
The site is bordered by Parklands Forest
Reserve to the north, and rural land to the
east and west. The landfill is located
within the core industry planning precinct –
with the Bli Bli Quarry directly to the north
and the Nambour Waste Water Treatment
Facility directly to the south.
2. Why do we need to upgrade this
facility?
The Nambour Landfill has been in
operation since 1987. If council had taken
no action to expand the site, the Nambour
Landfill would have reached capacity by
late 2013.
Additional landfill space is essential to
meet the needs of our growing community.
This upgrade will provide 1.2 million cubic
metres of additional landfill capacity which
will be sufficient until at least 2022.
Council considers landfill to be amongst
the most sustainable waste management
options at present for the disposal of much
of the region’s waste material. Up to 2,000
tonnes of waste is currently disposed of at
the Nambour Landfill each week.
The average household produces over
700kg of wheelie bin waste per year, two
thirds of which is actually recyclable.
Council is aiming to divert up to 70% of
this waste from landfill through awareness,
re-use and recycling.
3. Is this project consistent with council’s
Waste Management Strategy?
This year, council will release the new
Sunshine Coast Waste Strategy, which will
focus on waste management for the region
over the next 10 years. This plan contains
a series of objectives aimed at securing
the most sustainable waste disposal
option for the Sunshine Coast, and is now
out for public comment.
While council is committed to investigating
and trialling opportunities to reduce using
landfill in the future, the current
alternatives for disposing of non-recycled
waste are far too costly, and their success
has yet to be proven in the Australian
environment.
The need for additional landfill space and
extensions and upgrades of key sites
across the region are identified in the new
strategy and will continue for the
foreseeable future.
The expansion and upgrades of the
Sunshine Coast’s landfill sites and
Resource Recovery Centres is consistent
with ‘best practice’ in control of Amenity
and Environmental aspects - and includes
multi layered liners, contaminated water
collection and disposal, and gas capture
and utilisation.
Council’s new Waste Strategy will be
available on council’s website.
4. What’s involved with the expansion
works?
The first stage, comprising of the blasting
and excavation works to create a void for
the new cell, was completed between April
2011 and September 2012.
The landfill cells within the excavated pit
are being constructed in stages (refer to
the attached site plan). Cell construction
includes the installation of the containment
liner system, stormwater, groundwater and
leachate management systems for each
stage.
Construction of Cell 5.1 was completed in
May 2013 and this cell is already
operational.
Construction of Cell 5.2 is scheduled to
start Jan/Feb 2015 with completion
anticipated by the end of June 2015
(weather permitting).
Cell 5.3 will be constructed soon after Cell
5.2 becomes operational, and will bring
the landfill expansion to completion. It is
not practical to construct Cell 5.2 and 5.3
at the same time, hence the separate
stage for Cell 5.3. Even though the
footprint of Cell 5.3 appears quite small, it
provides significant additional airspace in
terms of the final landform.
There is no blasting involved with the
construction of Cells 5.2 and 5.3.
All upgrade construction works will be
completed by 2017.
The new cells provide landfill space for
waste from 2013 through to at least 2022.
5. How much does the project cost?
Construction of all stages, including the
excavation of the pit and Cells 5.1 to 5.3,
is estimated to cost $14 million.
monitored throughout the project. This
includes measures to control dust, storm
water, erosion, noise, and vibration which
may occur as a result of the work being
undertaken.
8. Will the project impact on residential
streets in the area?
No, there will be no additional traffic
movement on any local roads. There may
be some minimal additional vehicle
movement periodically on Cooney Road
during the works.
9. What impact will there be on the
environment?
Council commissioned independent
consultants to undertake a targeted
biodiversity assessment of the Nambour
Landfill expansion area and advise of any
potential impact. Their report found the
land within the footprint of the proposed
landfill was not critical habitat.
It is also a condition of the State
Government’s approval that a
comprehensive environmental
management plan was developed and
implemented by council’s contractor for
the excavation site. This plan addressed
air quality (dust), noise, vibration and
stormwater management – including
sediment and erosion control.
Finally, the operational landfill licence
again has a series of stringent amenity
and environmental controls that will be
adhered to.
6. What are the working hours?
Work is permitted between 6:30am – 5pm,
Monday to Saturday.
7. What steps will be taken to minimise
the impact on the community?
The development approval issued by the
Department of Environment and Heritage
Protection has strict conditions to minimise
the impact on the community and the
environment.
A series of management plans are being
developed which detail the measures
being implemented to meet these
conditions, and their effectiveness is being
10. How will users of the Nambour Waste
Management Facility be affected?
The existing Nambour facility is operating
as normal for the duration of the project,
except as follows:
To prevent the facility reaching capacity
before the expansion is completed;
vehicles above 4.5 tonnes gross weight,
delivering rubbish and concrete have been
diverted to council’s waste management
facilities at Pierce Ave, Caloundra.
Vehicles above 4.5 tonnes gross weight
delivering clean fill can still go to the
Nambour Landfill.
11. Will the Material Recovery Facility
continue normal operations?
The Material Recovery Facility will
continue operations for the duration of the
project.
12. Will the nearby library resource centre,
archives and education centre be
affected?
These facilities will continue to operate as
usual.