Local waste will soon have a new resting place at Greater Shepparton City Council's Cosgrove 3 landfill site.
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Covering 70 hectares, the Cosgrove Landfill Facility is located approximately 20 kilometres east of Shepparton and contains Cosgrove 1, Cosgrove 2 and Cosgrove 3.
All municipality waste is currently stored at the Cosgrove 2 site, with the construction of Cosgrove 3 commencing in February 2017.
Located in a pre-existing quarry, Greater Shepparton City Council director infrastructure Phil Hoare said the council is fortunate to have such a large and accessible space to contain local landfill.
'We're really lucky to have a spot like this to use as a landfill and we have a lot of capacity here,' he said.
Mr Hoare said the construction of Cosgrove 3 cost about $20 million, with a relatively even split of funds shared between the civil works and infrastructure.
He said the infrastructure works, which are predominantly those of the landfill pit, include cell and leachate construction which ensures no contaminants leak into the ground water located underneath the waste.
The Cosgrove 3 landfill site has a two-and-a-half million cubic metre capacity, with each cell designed to withstand about two years of filling.
'Council takes about 20,000 tonnes of municipal waste per year and 12,000 tonnes from commercial sites,' Mr Hoare said.
'That's 32,000 tonnes a year.'
Mr Hoare said the council is committed to increasing its green footprint, making major efforts to convert over half of the waste that ends up in landfill into green waste which is then used to create items such as mulch or compost.
Gases from the waste of Cosgrove 2 are also converted into electricity.
To help with these environmental endeavours, the facility will also include a waste education centre, which overlooks the landfill pit.
'We're trying to get people to recycle more to reduce the level of contamination,' Mr Hoare said.
A first for the region, the education centre will be open to school groups of all ages as well as interested community groups and will include models and images to help explain the landfill process.
Mr Hoare said civil works including roads, weighbridges, a wheel wash and landscaping amongst other works are also currently underway.
The whole site looks to be complete by September and the landfill site is expected to last 30 to 40 years.
'It's really good we're completed on time, we're well and truly ahead of when that one (Cosgrove 2) closes,' Mr Hoare said. 'It's a good outcome.'
The Cosgrove 3 landfill site construction has been undertaken by construction company Ertech and earth moving company Apex Earthworks.
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