• November 19, 2025
• By JEP Team
• Articles, News

Economy Waste are seeking approval for the expansion of their current Resource Recovery Facility located at 30 Nells Road, West Gosford NSW 2250. The Resource Recovery Facility will involve Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) waste receival, sorting, processing, storage and dispatch of products to appropriately licensed Sites for recycling or re-use. The expansion of the Resource Recovery Facility proposes to increase the recycling capacity for C&D and C&I waste materials from 30,000 tonnes per annum to 300,000 tonnes per annum. The Site at 30 Nells Road will be combined with the adjacent Site at 38 Nells Road (Lot 503, DP1034080) to create one larger Site (the Site).

A previous consultation program was rolled out in December 2024 regarding this Proposal to inform the preparation of the Scoping Report. Since then, the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) have been issued by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure in April 2025 (SSD-81129958).

The Proposal will involve a series of demolition and construction works, building alterations and additions to the Site to support the expansion of an existing Resource Recovery Facility. The Proposal will occur in two stages, with Stage 1 involving the construction of elements to enable the Site to increase recycling operations from the existing 30,000 tonnes per annum to 100,000 tonnes per annum. Stage 2 will require minor construction works to enable the recycling operations to increase from 100,000 tonnes per annum to 300,000 tonnes per annum. Construction works required during Stage 1 include the construction of a new site entry, a new above ground weighbridge, new truck wheel wash, new sealed asphalt parking area, a three-sided Tip and Spread Building, upgrades to the on-site stormwater detention system and provision of a stormwater treatment process, concrete storage bays and perimeter landscaping. Stage 2 includes the sealing of all operational areas with a concrete hardstand, installation of second weighbridge and construction of an awning over the existing waste sorting plant.

C&D and C&I waste is sorted, processed, stored and dispatched within seven (7) functional areas on the Site, these being:

1. Tip and Spread Building: A three-sided building that will enable the tipping and sorting of C&D and C&I waste materials in an indoor environment;
2. Primary Sorting Area: C&D and C&I waste tipped into the Tip and Spread Building will be inspected and sorted into separate bins and storage bays;
3. Secondary Processing Area: This involves the sorting, screening and size reduction of C&D and C&I waste to produce different recovered material products. Products include residual waste (light), residual waste (mixed), ferrous metals, engineered timber, plasterboard, clean timber, concrete, brick & tile and recovered fines;
4. Concrete Aggregate and Mulch Production: Concrete, bricks and tiles will be processed in a concrete crusher and woody garden organics and sorted clean timber will be shredded to produce mulch. Both materials will be stored in separate bays along the western or northern Site boundary;
5. Recovered Fines / Residual Soils: All recovered fines / residual soils resulting from processing activities will be stored in separate bays along the western Site boundary;
6. Product Storage and Dispatch: Recovered products will be stored in concrete storage bays along the perimeter of the Site in batches, with bays constructed in accordance with the FRNSW’s Fire Safety in Waste Facility Guidelines (2020). Trucks will collect the recovered products from the designated bays for removal from Site; and
7. Cardboard Baling Area: The north-eastern corner of the Tip & Spread Building will be where the cardboard baling area is located.

The Site is located on the edge of the West Gosford Industrial Estate on E4 General Industrial zoned land, which is compatible with the Proposal. The Proposal aims to provide much needed recycling capabilities that will divert C&D and C&I waste from landfill within the Central Coast Region. With increasing demand for C&D and C&I waste recycling services, the proposed expansion of the existing Facility is well placed to service the recycling needs of the Central Coast area.

By reducing volumes of waste going to landfill, and so reducing the amount of raw material required, the circular economy is supported. This aids the NSW government’s sustainability goals.

The development will assist in creating jobs and boosting economic growth within the Sydney Region. The project will inject more than $5 million during construction into the local economy.

The design of the development proposes several sustainability initiatives to protect the local environment. These are:

• Recycling of C&D and C&I waste means less waste in the environment. This supports the circular economy;
• Acoustic walls along the perimeter to reduce noise impact;
• Tip & Spread building to be provided with dust suppression during tipping;
• Solar panels on the roof will provide the Site with green electricity;
• Temporary storage of PASS will provide environmental support for development in the area;
• Sorting of materials received onsite will be separated inside the Tip & Spread Building and Picking Station to reduce noise and dust impacts of the operations. Dust control systems are installed in the Tip & Spread Building and Picking Station that are compliant with the NSW EPA requirements;
• The site will have a fully sealed hardstand to prevent the possibility of contamination of the environment, and allowing all weather access;
• Handstand to be bunded to contain all firewater in the unlikely event of a fire;
• Noise controls within the Tip & Spread Building to avoid impacts on neighbours and sensitive receptors.
• Firefighting equipment and systems are installed to comply with the NSW Fire and Rescue guidelines;
• Wheel wash located before exit weighbridge to reduce sediment track off onto local roads;
• Utilise water sensitive urban design features to reduce peak hydraulic flows;
• Stormwater runoff will be captured, treated and re-used; 
• Full dust suppression system installed across all concrete storage areas; and
• Regular maintenance of all hard surfaces.

On-site stormwater and erosion control measures will ensure that all stormwater is captured, treated and (where possible) reused on-site. Hardstand areas will be constructed on site to mitigate the risk of leachate from operational activities. Road base hardstand with a geotextile fabric underlay is proposed during Stage 1 and concreted surface is proposed during Stage 2 of the operations to provide appropriate levels of protection to the groundwater.

The air quality, noise and vibration and traffic impact assessments have assessed likely impacts resulting from the Proposal during the construction and operational phases. All assessments determined the Proposal would not have any impacts on the surrounding area.

Neighbour and community feedback is being sought on the proposal to inform the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) currently being prepared. More information can be found in:

• Fact sheet
• Scoping report
• Webinar recording held on 3 December 2025

Please note that we will also be hosting a webinar between 6-7 pm on Wednesday 3rd December 2025 via Teams video conference platform for nearby businesses, to provide more information on the Proposal. To register, please email admin@jacksonenvironment.com.au by 5pm on 2nd December 2025.

You can also provide your feedback about the proposed development by contacting JEP Environment & Planning via email or phone:

• E: admin@jacksonenvironment.com.au 
• T: 02 8056 1849

Note: The Scoping Report is based on the proposed receipt and processing of up to 200,000 tonnes of waste for recycling per year as per SEARs SSD-81129958. The EIS currently being prepared will assess the impact of the proposed development based on the receival of a maximum of 300,000 tonnes of waste per year, including the receival of potential acid sulfate soils (for transfer only) from building sites to better support recycling on the Central Coast. This is explained in the more recent Fact Sheet above.