Newcastle council's Resource Recovery Centre has recycled the weight equivalent of 74 semi-trailers of waste in its first year.
The RCC, which opened last September, has diverted 3100 tonnes of recyclables from landfill.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the centre had saved the council more than $450,000 in waste levy fees to the Environment Protection Authority and generated in excess of $250,000 income from sale of those resources.
"The initial build was partly funded by the NSW government and the fully operational facility now pays for itself, with the savings from waste levy fees and revenue from the sale of goods outweighing the operational costs," she said.
The $6 million centre has over 2000 square metres of undercover sorting area, where staff recover items such as metals, cardboard, soft plastics, clean wood and electrical goods from loads of mixed waste.
Previously these materials would have been disposed of directly to landfill.
Manager waste services Troy Uren said the venture benefits both the environment and the community.
"Not only are we keeping recyclable material out of landfill, the city is contributing to a circular economy by selling waste materials to be repurposed and delivering positive economic, environmental and social outcomes for the Newcastle community," he said.
"We're continuing our commitment to the environment by constructing an organics recycling facility, due to start processing our garden waste on site in 2022, with an aim to incorporate food waste by 2026 and divert 900,000 tonnes of food and green waste from landfill over 25 years."
