Inverell mayor Paul Harmon said the development would be constructed on council land, and council would contribute through Industry Assistance Grant funding.

Cr Harmon thought the establishment of the proposed facility held many good points.

“It will reduce the amount of waste going into our landfill, provide employment opportunities for local people and provide training options,” Cr Harmon said.

Although it was still ‘early days’, Cr Harmon thought it was a very exciting proposal, and that council hoped the business would be operating within a year.

“E-waste is anything that you can plug in,” he said.

“From a toaster to a computer, a washing machine, your fridge. They’re all in the definition of e-waste, and it’s something that isn’t recycled to its full potential at the moment.”

Council general manager Paul Henry said material sourced from an area bounded by Moree, Tenterfield and Guyra would be recycled through the facility.

“They’ll disassemble all the e-waste and they expect about 90 per cent of the material to be recovered,” Mr Henry said.

At its monthly meeting on Wednesday August 26, council adopted the decision, made by its Waste Management Sunset Committee on August 5, to assume management responsibility for the Inverell Landfill and associated activities, while recognising organisations such as Northaven, which holds a concern in that particular area.

Mr Henry said council was about to run a general advertisement to provide an opportunity for social enterprises to express an interest in the various elements of the waste stream.