Councils dump recyclable material in landfill sites as waste crisis escalates.
A recycling crisis is forcing at least six Melbourne councils to dump tonnes of recyclable waste into landfill.
Inner South
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Tonnes of recycled goods will now be dumped into landfill, after a key Melbourne processor was slapped with an EPA ban.
Port Phillip, Boroondara, Casey, Glen Eira, Stonnington and Kingston councils have confirmed they are now sending recyclable material to landfill.
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Last week, Port Phillip Council said they would be forced to send about 43 tonnes of recyclables to landfill after processor SKM Services copped an EPA order to close its Coolaroo and Laverton sites and manage its huge stockpiles of recyclables.
Mayor Dick Gross said the council had been told SKM would accept recyclables from last Wednesday, but that was now up in the air.
“We share the disappointment of our community that the diversion must continue and hope this issue will be resolved as quickly as possible,” he said.
He said there was “no other viable option” but to continue gathering recyclable waste at the scheduled collection time and take it to landfill.
Boroondara mayor Jane Addis was also disappointed.
“We will be working with the Municipal Association of Victoria to encourage the Victorian Government to find a better solution to managing waste,” she said.
“Council hopes the state government will introduce strategies to reduce both the amount of general waste and recyclables produced … so there is less reliance on overseas markets and more innovation in packaging and reuse of recyclable materials.”
Stonnington chief executive Warren Roberts said he’d been told the EPA was to inspect the SKM site again last Thursday.
“Residents and businesses will notice no change to their recycling collection service and there will be no financial impact on them,” he said.
Kingston Council said it was urgently negotiating with an alternative recycling contractor to temporarily accept the area’s recycling material.
They said they had has been forced to send recyclable materials to landfill for four collection days, totalling approximately 240 tonnes of material. Due to high landfill charges this has cost the council an additional $20,000.
“We updated our website to reduce any confusion about waste disposal in the community. Some community members have voluntarily held off on putting out their recycling bin for a fortnight to minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill and we appreciate their assistance and would welcome support from others where possible,” Mayor Cr Georgina Oxley said
The EPA notices follow a fire at the Coolaroo site in 2017 that burned for 11 days.
Recycling materials have been stockpiling since China banned Australian imports of recyclables last year.
SKM has contracts with many councils in Melbourne and regional Victoria.
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