At an extraordinary city council meeting on Monday, all councillors voted for the proposal to enter a 12-month refund-sharing agreement where both organisations would receive a 50-50 split of the claimable refunds from kerbside recycling.

The recycling will occur through the state government’s container deposit scheme.

The revenue generated for the council is projected to be $500,000 per annum, which would be directed at reducing residents’ domestic waste fees by $20 to $30 per household per year.

Lynne Bodell, spokesperson for Wagga Ratepayers’ Association, welcomed the initiative, saying it was “a step in the right direction”.

“We want to make sure that the money is definitely put towards reducing fees,” Ms Bodell said.

“It’d be nice if it was was made public how they’re going to reduce fees.”

Ms Bodell said the split was an appropriate amount for the 12 months, which started on December 11.

“They can review afterwards and if it doesn’t seem appropriate, adjustments can be made,” she said.

“I believe a Kurrajong is also looking at bulk recycling, so maybe their revenue would go there, which would benefit residents as well.”

Mayor Greg Conkey said the outcome was positive news for the city and residents.

“We’ve got a very strong partnership with Kurrajong as they do an excellent job,” Cr Conkey said.

“We have to use our proportion in waste management.

“We’ll be looking at the revenue received to reduce the waste-collection charges.”

While no timeframe has been set regarding when residents will see the benefits, Cr Conkey said that following the 12-month agreement, the ratio of refunds will be reviewed, which may increase for the council.

“We’ll look at costs and revenue returns and see if the 50-50 split is reasonable or another percentage is needed,” he said.

Similarly, Kurrajong’s deputy chief executive officer Ray Carroll said it was an interim arrangement until “we better know and understand the income and cost drivers of the scheme for material recycling processors such Kurrajong”.

“All other shire councils in the area such as Griffith, Narrandera, Leeton, Murrumbidgee and Lockhart have agreed to our proposed 50-50 income sharing interim arrangement,” Mr Carroll said.

It is a requirement of the NSW EPA that NSW councils that undertake kerbside household recycling need to have an income-sharing agreement with their material recycling processors for both parties to be eligible to receive income from the CDS scheme for kerbside collected using CDS eligible containers.

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