Recycling threat may leave homes with bins overflowing

MORE than a million homes could be left without recycling after a company threatened to withdraw its services unless it is given government funding and clarity on workplace prosecutions.

MORE than a million homes could be left without recycling after a company threatened to withdraw its services unless it is given government funding and clarity on workplace prosecutions.

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SKM Recycling, the company responsible for an 11-day fire which enveloped Melbourne in a cloud of toxic smoke, has threatened to stop its service for 19 councils unless the government can provide it with assurances around prosecutions it may face.

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The recycling plant fire in Coolaroo. Picture: MFB

In an extraordinary email to Energy, Environment and Climate Change minister Lily D’Ambrosio, SKM business director Robert Italiano also asked the government to give it a “clear understanding” of what taxpayer funds it can be given to keep its “operations financially viable”.

Mr Italiano said government regulations following the Coolaroo blaze and actions by the Environment Protection Agency and WorkSafe had made collecting recycling a considerable business risk for the company.

“This has now put SKM in the situation that it is not able to leave itself open to any further regulatory action by continuing to accept material,” the email seen by the Herald Sun says. He told the Minister’s office the “EPA and WorkSafe must provide certainty on the status of the investigation and inform SKM if they intend to prosecute”.

SKM Recycling has threatened to stop its service for 19 councils.

The minister is understood to be seething at the recycler’s attempts to hold the government to ransom.

Mr Italiano also asked for a “clear understanding” on what government industry funding is available to SKM.

“What other help, if any, will government provide to ensure the ongoing operations remain viable and the employment SKM provides secured,” Mr Italiano’s email said.

Mr Italiano said he had notified the Australian Workers’ Union about its intentions to shut down kerbside collections, which could affect jobs.

While SKM has said it had deferred it decision on suspending operations to continue to negotiate with the government on regulatory and funding issues.

Minister for Energy and the Environment Lily D'Ambrosio.

“At the moment there are significant commercial and regulatory risks and some confusion which needs to be resolved,” a spokesman said.

The stand-off comes amid a turbulent period for the sector, which has been stung by new Chinese restrictions on imported recycling.

Ms D’Ambrosio said the government had provided a $13 million package to support companies affected by China’s new import rules.

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