Although tradies and those with concrete products now have more options to dispose of their waste, a 1489 per cent price increase at the Moss Vale RRC means it’s no longer a cost-effective choice.

The price hike comes after asbestos traces were found in crushed concrete sold at the site earlier this year.

Concrete products including building and construction concrete, brick, tile and cement sheeting products could previously be disposed of at the RRC for $26.50 per tonne.

Mixed inert waste, however, costs $394.50 per tonne.

Anyone who bought crushed concrete from the centre in June or July was urged to contact council after laboratory testing on a crushed concrete sample confirmed it contained white asbestos (chrysotile) traces.

Council general manager Ann Prendergast contacted the Environmental Protection Agency after she was alerted to the presence of asbestos and the RRC stopped both the sale and acceptance of materials that contained concrete in early August.

While concrete and building waste will now be accepted by the RRC, The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has directed the products are not to be recycled on site, which means waste accepted will be charged as ‘mixed inert waste’ and attract a higher fee.

A council spokesman said the $394.50 per tonne mixed inert waste fee at the RRC was due to the changed way that relevant waste would be processed at the facility in future.

“The new rate is a result of a recommendation from the NSW EPA that any incoming concrete products be classified as Mixed Inert Waste,” the spokesman said.

“All Mixed Inert Waste is subsequently collected, transported, treated and disposed of off-site and the charge is reflective of these combined costs.”

With such a steep price increase, those with products to recycle will no doubt be looking for other options.

Anderson Waste Services in Moss Vale also accepts concrete products as mixed waste, at a cost of $300 per tonne, plus GST.

Asbestos was widely used in domestic building products until the mid-1980s. Visit www.safework.nsw.gov.au/health-and-safety/safety-topics-a-z/asbestos for more information.