An effective negotiation process has resulted in an agreement for the future of Invercargill’s recycling.

Invercargill City Council and Southland DisAbility Enterprises (SdE) have been negotiating an 18-month contract for recycling services, with the WasteNet contract set to end today.

Council Interim Group Manager – Infrastructure Jane Parfitt said both parties had approached negotiations constructively.

SdE General Manager Hamish McMurdo said it was pleasing that SdE staff could continue to provide the services that were so important to the community.

Ross Jackson, the Independent Chair of the negotiating panel said: “it became evident through the negotiations that SdE’s strong ‘social good’ offering would result in a higher cost to Council than a purely commercial operator.”

However, Council and the wider community had previously emphasised their desire to support that social good element.

“The 18-month contract provides an opportunity to work in a different way and collect good data to ensure the best possible outcome for a longer-term contract when the time comes for that,” Mr Jackson said.

Meanwhile, a temporary drop-off service for recyclables is scheduled to be in place at the Bond Street Transfer station in Invercargill from mid-July.

SdE closed the recycling drop-off area at its Ettrick Street location during COVID-19 Alert Level 4 and, due to health and safety reasons, have decided not to reopen it in its current configuration.

Mr McMurdo said SdE would be working on a permanent solution for a public drop-off point during the next three months.