Shoalhaven City Council will have to pay more to process the region's recycling - but it's not sure how the increase will be funded.
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The council contracts out processing commingled recyclables to Shoalhaven Recycling.
The council says to avoid the high cost of burying waste in a licenced landfill, it attempts to divert as much household waste to recycling as possible.
The yellow lidded recycling bin is collected by a council contractor and taken to Shoalhaven Recycling for sorting and sale to reuse markets.
The council pays Shoalhaven Recycling to take the unsorted recyclables from the kerbside collection via a fee at their gates.
The council says after the collapse of the Chinese Recycling market, Shoalhaven Recycling has increased its gate fee.
A confidential report was presented to the council at their July 30 meeting. The council said afterwards it agreed to pay Shoalhaven Recycling an extra $55.31 per tonne.
Assets director Paul Keech said the increased cost would need to be recovered in the future.
"Options to do this will be considered as part of the future business plan," he said.
The council said there would be "no change to ratepayers," and no change to fees charged at waste facilities.
The council also called on residents to reduce their use of plastic and call for manufacturers to reduce plastic packaging and single-use products.