Council
21 December, 2025
Wingecarribee to ‘cut waste’ under EPA grant
Wingecarribee Shire Council has secured a slice of $1.16 million NSW waste and recycling grant funding.
Wingecarribee Shire Council has secured a slice of $1.16 million NSW waste and recycling grant funding. The funding secured through a regional partnership is limited to planning and procurement work and does not include delivery of local infrastructure.
The grant is being delivered through the NSW Environment Protection Authority, Joint Procurement Funded Support program. The EPA offers up to $500,000 per project.
The Southern Wire has spoken to the EPA:
“Wingecarribee Shire Council is the lead applicant for this joint project, which is why the grant is allocated to them,” the spokesperson said.
“The project is a partnership between Wingecarribee, Campbelltown and Wollondilly councils, who have a long history of working together on regional waste solutions.”
The spokesperson said the $236,780 allocation would support planning and procurement work, rather than construction or service delivery.
“The $236,780 in funding will support a joint procurement process to explore options for processing their combined food organics and garden organics (FOGO) material,” the spokesperson said.
“Sydney Water’s proposed Advanced Water Recycling Centre at Kemps Creek, which may include a regional organic waste biorefinery, is one of the potential opportunities the councils will assess as part of this work.”
However, the work remains at an investigation and planning stage. No funding has been allocated to build waste infrastructure in the Southern Highlands, and there is no indication that any future facility would be in the Southern Highlands.
By comparison, other funded projects under the program include shared FOGO collection and processing across 37 councils — including Cowra, Weddin, Hilltops, Lithgow, the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury — as well as development of a Hunter Central Coast Regional Waste Infrastructure Strategy and planning for shared problem-waste collections around the Canberra region.
While any direct local benefits remain prospective rather than immediate, the receipt of the grant reflects council’s role in regional collaboration.
Read More: Southern Highlands, Wollondilly