State Government needs to do more to resolve recycling crisis, Darebin Council says
Darebin Council says the State Government should do more to fix the recycling crisis as it’s had years to act.
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Darebin Council has called on the State Government to fix the state’s recycling industry after it was forced to send tonnes of recycling to landfill.
The council had to divert its kerbside collections after SKM Recycling, which deals with half of the state’s kerbside recycling, was shut down by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) because of safety issues.
The council joined the peak body for local government, the Municipal Association of Victoria, in a call for more action.
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“The State Government has known about the problems in the recycling industry for over a year, however has done little to address this, despite holding $500 million in the Sustainability Fund,” Darebin Mayor Susan Rennie said.
The council believes money should be spent on an emergency storage facility to hold recyclable materials for when recycling plants go offline.
Councils pay a levy for waste sent to landfill, which is collected in the State Government’s Sustainability Fund and then used for programs to reduce emissions and improve waste management.
The council paid $1.65 million in levies in the past financial year.
As of June 30, the fund’s balance was $511 million.
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning spokesman Michael Pollock said more than $37 million had been invested into the recycling industry.
“These changes will take time, but they’re about putting the whole sector on a strong footing,” he said.
Darebin Council received $391,540 from the fund to cover costs associated with kerbside recycling and improve e-waste management.
MAV president Mary Lalios said a “lack of leadership” from both the state and federal governments left the industry in a volatile position.
“This is a frustrating situation that … is due to more than a decade of underinvestment of landfill levy revenue,” Cr Lalios said.
The EPA shut down SKM after officers observed large stockpiles of combustible materials, breaching a waste management policy in place after a major fire in 2017 that took 11 days to control.
Melbourne councils were forced to divert the recycling to landfill because other recycling centres were at capacity.
SKM Recycling was issued 12 notices relating to clean-up processes, stormwater issues and stockpile configuration.
The council contract with SKM Recycling costs ratepayers $950,000 a year and will end in September 2020.
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