Just over a year ago, Roger Lewis, the manager of Hunter Resource Recovery, wrote a letter proudly outlining the achievements of HRR, its commitment to recycling e-waste in the Hunter and helping employ people with disabilities.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In his letter, Mr Lewis clearly differentiated HRR and its local preferences from Matthews Metals and its Sydney-based processing.
Flip the calendar forward 13 months and Mai-Wel’s E-Cycling facility has lost the HRR contract to Matthews Metals.
Mai-Wel’s E-Cycling facility will close on July 21. Twenty-four supported workers with disabilities will be displaced and 10 able-bodied workers will be made redundant.
While the supported workers will be redeployed throughout Mai-Wel Industries, these people with disabilities and their families are sad because they were involved in something that made a real difference to the community and the environment.
Some will say that business is business and that the decision, which was made by the co-regulatory authority DHL Logistics, was purely that.
Others will say that there are some operations, such as Australian Disability Enterprise employers, that should receive special consideration, and that the Commonwealth Department of the Environment could and should have exerted pressure on the co-regulatory authorities to keep these regional jobs local.
It isn’t just about employment.
The recyclers appointed by the co-regulatory authorities have quotas, based on import figures.
What happens when they hit these quotas and will not be compensated for further surrendered items?
When things were handled here in the Hunter, Mai-Wel continued to accept items for recycling and Hunter Councils through HRR provided the necessary financial support.
It is doubtful we will see such a collegiate approach if our e-waste is managed out of town.
