EPA grants exemption for 10,000 tonnes of SKM recycling to be taken to landfill at Inkerman
Thousands of tonnes of rotting recycling stranded inside shipping containers and a shed in Adelaide will be taken to a landfill north of the city.
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Rotting recycling stranded for two years inside hundreds of shipping containers and a large shed in Adelaide will be taken to a rubbish dump.
The Environment Protection Authority has granted exemptions to waste industry giant Cleanaway to take 10,000 tonnes of co-mingled material to its landfill at Inkerman, north of the city.
A waste expert who examined the paper, cardboard and plastic inside 381 shipping containers at Wingfield and a large shed at Lonsdale had determined it could not be recycled.
The material was collected from yellow bins by a Victorian company, SKM Recycling, until it was hit by the China Sword recycling crisis.
SKM collapsed late last year with debts of $100 million, leaving tens of thousands of tonnes of unprocessed recycling in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania while 30 Victorian councils were forced to take their yellow bin material straight to landfills.
The fate of the 10,000 tonnes of material at Wingfield and Lonsdale remained uncertain as liquidators worked with government authorities in the three states to restore SKM’s operations.
Environment Minister David Speirs said the independent expert had advised the EPA that the material in Adelaide was too degraded to be processed with existing technology.
“The material will be taken to a separate area in a landfill cell at Inkerman and recovered if the technology and infrastructure becomes available in South Australia to process the materials,” Mr Speirs said.
He confirmed that the EPA had agreed to exempt Cleanaway, which bought SKM’s assets for $66 million last October, from having to pay a $14 million tax to put the recycling at Inkerman.
The government last year attracted widespread criticism from councils when it increased the solid waste levy — charged on rubbish dumped at landfills — from $100 a tonne to $140 a tonne, effective this month.
Mr Speirs said the yellow bin material collected from various council areas across Adelaide by SKM could not be left at Wingfield and Lonsdale as it would continue to deteriorate.
“All avenues to recycle the materials were explored but unfortunately there were no other viable options in the immediate future,” said Mr Speirs.
“An independent waste expert examined the material and determined with current South Australian technology, the material is not suitable for recovery at this time due to degradation.”
Mr Speirs said the recycling was not being dumped at Inkerman.
“Inkerman landfill has the capacity to receive and store the material in a separate part of the existing landfill cell until such time the infrastructure is available in South Australia to process the materials,” he said.
“South Australia is a nation-leader when it comes to recycling and resource recovery and I hope to see future innovation in this sector which will allow these materials to reprocessed.”
Mr Speirs said the transfer of the recycling to Inkerman would allow the sites at Wingfield and Lonsdale to be cleared.
“This will also allow the local owners of the shipping containers – who have not been paid rent for several years – to take possession of their property,” he said.
Mr Speirs said the EPA had granted an exemption for the material to be sent to landfill. It also had waived the solid waste levy.
Cleanaway was officially notified of the EPA’s decision on Thursday.