Business
26 August, 2026
Exclusive: Round-the-Clock waste giant planned for Moss Vale
A 24-hour waste complex proposed for Moss Vale could receive up to 200,000 tonnes of material a year, shred tyres, crush concrete and sort plastics.
A 24-hour waste complex proposed for Moss Vale could receive up to 200,000 tonnes of material a year, shred tyres, crush concrete and sort plastics.
The privately backed project is proposed inside an industrial building at 2 Bowman Road, beside Wingecarribee Shire Council’s existing Resource Recovery Facility, the SES and council animal shelter.
Waste deliveries, sorting and staff activity could occur around the clock, seven days a week. The facility is forecast to generate as many as 260 vehicle movements a day, including hook-lift trucks and 26-metre B-doubles.
Environmental planning consultancy Ecotech Enviro Pty Ltd prepared the project’s scoping report and is identified as the applicant. The owner of the land is known by The Southern Wire but is not yet reported pending further investigation.
The Southern Wire has reached out to Ecotech for comment.
The NSW Department of Planning issued the Planning Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements, known as SEARs, earlier this month.
The SEARs set out the investigations the proponent must complete before an environmental impact statement can be lodged and publicly exhibited.
The required studies will examine traffic and road safety, noise, air quality, dust, odour, water contamination, flooding, fire danger, hazardous materials, biodiversity and social impacts.
The proponent must also identify where the waste would come from, justify the requested 200,000-tonne capacity and explain how each waste stream would be transported, stored, processed and dispatched.
Wingecarribee Shire Council officers wrote to the Department of Planning just over a week ago, raising concerns about the proposal’s scale, around-the-clock activity, heavy-vehicle traffic, fire risks, location within the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment, and compatibility with plans for the Southern Highlands Innovation Park.
The submission from council refers to the project as a “Plastics Recycling Facility”. The letter from council makes clear the comments “do not represent a formal position adopted by council”.
Wingecarribee Shire Council most recently met on 19 August 2026, one week after council staff wrote to the Department of Planning. Despite this, the matter was not mentioned at the council meeting.
The Southern Wire makes clear this project is not the same as the proposed Repoly facility nearby in Moss Vale.
Council said the environmental impact statement should identify where the material would come from, demonstrate a regional need for the extra capacity and assess whether the development could affect the operation and financial sustainability of existing waste services.
Bowman Road already experienced periods of congestion, according to Council, including vehicles queuing to enter the weighbridge at its Resource Recovery Facility.
The road also provides access to the State Emergency Service, Council’s animal shelter and local businesses.
Council requested detailed modelling of the Bowman Road-Berrima Road intersection, road safety, cumulative industrial traffic and interaction with the planned Moss Vale Bypass.
Once the environmental impact statement is completed, it will be placed on public exhibition before the project is assessed and determined.
The scoping report predicts 260 vehicle movements each weekday, 236 on Saturdays and 212 on Sundays.
Those estimates include up to 96 daily hook-lift truck movements and 44 B-double movements. The report counts inbound and outbound journeys separately.
Staff could work, waste could be delivered and sorting could occur around the clock, including Sundays and public holidays.
Screening, crushing, shredding and the transfer of processed material off site would be restricted to 7am-6pm weekdays and 8am-1pm Saturdays. Those activities would not occur on Sundays or public holidays.
The scoping report proposes a tyre-processing plant with a nominal capacity of 10,000 tonnes annually.
Waste tyres would be transported from retailers across the State and delivered in semi-trailers.
The tyres would be shredded into chips and stored in bulk bags before being transported off site.
One section of the proponent’s report says the chips would be produced for use as tyre-derived fuel in cement kilns, electricity generation or industrial heating as an alternative to coal, gas or oil.
The scoping report acknowledges that tyres present a significant fire risk. It says tyre fires have a high energy release, generate large volumes of smoke and are extremely difficult to extinguish.
The Department has required the environmental impact statement to identify how much combustible waste would be stockpiled at any time.
The assessment must include stockpile dimensions, separation distances, emergency-vehicle access, fire-containment measures and the capacity of the site’s fire-hydrant system.
While the current proposal is not solely a plastics-only facility, plastics would be accepted, sorted and recovered. The main processing line would separate plastics from commercial, industrial and mixed waste.
The plans include dedicated storage for “residue plastics”.
Council’s animal shelter is approximately 150 metres from the property boundary.
Council said animals housed there should be treated as sensitive receivers when noise, vibration, odour, lighting, air quality and increased activity were assessed.
The nearest existing homes are approximately 600 metres east of the site.
The scoping report says processing and waste storage would occur inside an enclosed warehouse, reducing potential noise, dust and odour emissions.
Council has requested confirmation that all waste storage, processing and stockpiling—including temporary stockpiles—would remain inside the building.
It also wants the assessment to consider future sensitive uses that could be permitted on surrounding land, including housing, childcare facilities, respite facilities and educational establishments.
The property is within the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment and contains a small stream draining towards Stony Creek. Whites Creek is also nearby.
The scoping report argued that no further hydrology or water-quality assessment was necessary because the warehouse would use stormwater infrastructure approved for the previous industrial development.
Council challenged that approach, saying the infrastructure was assessed for a scaffolding warehouse rather than a large waste-processing facility.
It requested investigation of potential contamination from leachate, sediment, oil, fuel, hydrocarbons and tyre-derived pollutants.
The Department’s final assessment requirements include an integrated water-management strategy and examination of whether the approved system can safely handle waste-area washdown.
A high-pressure gas transmission pipeline crosses the broader property. Council requested a safety assessment and formal consultation with pipeline operator APA Group.
The Ecotech-prepared scoping report estimates that establishing the facility would require a capital investment of $10 million.
It says the project could create up to 15 construction jobs and 50 permanent operational positions, providing employment and economic benefits for the Southern Highlands.
In Part 2, the Southern Wire will report further details on this proposal.
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