Big Rivers region’s four municipal councils have joined forces to clean up scrap metal, especially old abandoned cars.
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Scrap metal in remote towns has been a problem for many years.
It takes up a large amount of space and can be a safety hazard.
Due to the distance to scrap metal markets, most remote towns are unable to make use of these facilities in an economically viable way.
The project began in Wadeye where an estimated 600 cars were awaiting collection.
The scrap metal is being transported from the remote towns by Sims Metal Management to central collection areas, where it will be crushed before shipping to Adelaide.
The four councils, Roper Gulf, Victoria Daly, West Daly and Katherine Town Council, are part of the Big Rivers Region Waste Management Working Group, which has been meeting on a regular basis since 2014.
The Department of Health, the Local Government Association of the NT (LGANT), the NT Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA), the Department of Community and Housing Development and NT Worksafe are the other members of the group.
Since 2016, the Department of Health has funded the position of a Waste Management Coordinator for the group, who assist all the councils with waste related issues and identifies common challenges.
The group is already looking into new projects that can be initiated to tackle waste issues collectively. These include reduction of waste volumes and littering.
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