Solo managing director Robert Richards denies talk of a boycott of collecting yellow bins in Newcastle. but it is understood the council has its own trucks ready to step in.

Neither side would be eager for the bumper Christmas bins to sit on the kerb longer than necessary, a position likely to be shared by Newcastle's residents.

Yet the recycling question continues to loom large. China's changes, which exclude 99 per cent of Australian recyclables, have severely hampered disposal options for the 61,000 tonnes of recyclables collected in the Hunter region each year.

While it may be a ban in effect, the Chinese rules actually take the form of stringent limits on the level of contamination in the wastes it effects.

In December 2017, Waste Management Association of Australia chief executive Gayle Sloan predicted it would be "a real challenge" to find homes for the products in the short term but that it would change the industry. A year later, she said she was unsatisfied with the support from government.

"But the reality is operators continue to be under significant pressure ... governments still haven't really caught up with what needs to happen," she told the ABC.

There is a clear appetite for recycling programs in Australia. The success of the NSW government's Return and Earn is proof that the effort will be made, albeit that program offers a fiscal carrot for the return of aluminium cans.

While the City of Newcastle's refusal to the variation is understandable for an organisation that must account for its spending to ratepayers, it also offers an early warning that the present price of that service is likely to rise when renegotiation is needed.

Chief executive Jeremy Bath's commitment to working with the contractor to understand "China's tough new import laws" is also welcome news to those who believe more should be done to create a circular lifespan for the materials at point.

The mooted $15 million change requested for the Solo contract is not an insignificant sum. Neither is the Hunter Resource Recovery revenue increase of more than $5 million in one calendar year. As major customers of waste firms, governments will be forced to choose between leading change or footing bigger bills for the same service.