Boroondara Council tells ratepayers to collect their own rubbish

Angry ratepayers are furious at their council’s suggestion they should collect their own recyclable waste and deliver it to waste centres themselves following SKM’s closure.

Furious ratepayers have hit out at Boroondara Council over its failure to implement a better waste management plan following embattled SKM Recycling’s closure.

The council announced on social media the municipality’s recyclables would be sent to landfill after SKM said it would no longer accept councils’ recyclable waste.

SKM has been wrestling with rising debts and threats of insolvency, and angry ratepayers said the council should have seen the writing on the wall sooner and found an alternative.

Colin Jevons said it was the council’s fault for using an “unreliable” contractor and he questioned why other councils found alternative recyclers, but Boroondara hadn’t.

“It’s also disappointing that other, less wealthy councils have already announced replacement recycling services … while ours has not,” he wrote.

Others were incredulous at the council’s suggestion they should collect their own recyclables and take them to waste centres themselves, with many arguing that’s what they paid rates for.

“Boroondara residents can still take clean and sorted paper and cardboard to the Boroondara recycling and waste centre and the Kew depot recycling drop-off centre,” the council spokesman wrote on Facebook.

“Flexible soft plastics like plastic bags and soft plastic packaging can be taken to REDcycle collection points at Coles and Safeway (Woolworths) supermarkets.”

Some social media users called on Boroondara chief executive Phil Storer to front the community and explain its waste strategy, while others agreed community members needed to take greater responsibility for their own rubbish.

The council’s Facebook post said the State Government should find alternative options for councils’ recyclable waste, drawing criticism from residents who said it was “passing the buck”.

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“The fundamental issue is that the capacity required to manage all of the state’s recyclable materials does not exist within the Victorian infrastructure,” the council wrote.

“Council considers the Victorian Government should use the $500 million it has collected as a waste levy from all Victorians to be more proactive with identifying a long term plan for recycling.”

Ashburton woman Moira Tobin told the Progress Leader she was sick of seeing rubbish littering Boroondara’s streets and waterways and stronger waste management policies were needed at all levels of government.

She suggested the council ban single use plastics such as straws, plastic bottles and coffee cups.

Large companies such as soft drink brands and fast food chains should be forced to take their rubbish back and dispose of it ethically themselves, she said.

A council spokesman repeatedly tried to reassure social media users on Facebook the council was “actively seeking a resolution on this matter”.

The Progress Leader has sought further comment from the council but has yet to receive a response.