Hume Council resumes recycling at former SKM Laverton North site
Recycling has resumed in Hume after a two-month hiatus forced by the SKM shutdown — but the embattled company’s former SKM site is still a few weeks away from opening again.
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Recycling has resumed in Hume after a two-month hiatus forced by the shutdown of SKM’s Coolaroo site.
Hume Council announced on Tuesday the processing of yellow kerbside bin collections would return to normal “effective immediately”, with recyclables to be sent to SKM’s former Laverton North facility.
The facility reopened late last month after restructuring company KordaMentha took over the embattled company’s sites and cleared about 12,000 tonnes of waste from Laverton and Coolaroo.
A KordaMentha spokesman Michael Smith told Leader it was hoped the Coolaroo site would reopen by the end of October.
It was also announced on Tuesday that waste management giant Cleanaway had acquired SKM’s assets for about $66 million, giving the company a network of five recycling sites, including three material recovery facilities and a transfer station in Victoria.
Hume Mayor Carly Moore thanked the community for their patience during the shutdown and encouraged everyone to continue to sort their recycling properly.
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“All material collected in your yellow recycling bin will be diverted away from landfill and sent to a recycling site in Laverton North, so it is important to sort your waste and ensure you recycle right,” Cr Moore said.
She said it was pleasing to see many people recycle through alternative options such as the pop-up station and resource recovery centres.
Cr Moore said the fortnightly pop-up station at Craigieburn Sports Stadium would continue for the time being with the next day scheduled for October 20.
Cr Moore said Hume was taking part in the Metropolitan Waste Resource Recovery Group joint procurement process along with many other Melbourne councils to secure a longer-term recycling solution.
Mr Smith said maintenance and repairs had kept the Coolaroo plant closed for longer.
He said Laverton North was now processing 3600 tonnes of co-mingled recyclables from seven councils each day — a record for that facility.
Cleanaway chief executive Vik Bansal said significant progress had been made clearing waste stockpiles from the sites, repairing equipment and bringing them to the required safety, environmental and operational standards.
“We expect to gradually restore operations in Victoria over the coming months to provide councils with a quality, sustainable solution for their recycling,” he said.