Laura Michell
The collapsed company behind a recycling plant fire in Coolaroo in July 2017 is set to face court next month.
SKM Recycling and its director Robert Italiano will face the County Court on April 13 for a directions hearing relating to the blaze, which resulted in the evacuation of Dallas residents from their homes.
SKM Services and Italiano face five charges each relating to pollution and permitting an environmental hazard.
The case was heard in the Melbourne Magistrates Court last Monday, with Italiano and SKM entering not guilty pleas.
They were charged by the Environment Protection Authority in March 2019.
The fire, which took 11 days to put out, blanketed parts of the northern suburbs in smoke.
The company closed its Coolaroo and Laverton North plants in February 2019, before going into liquidation in August 2019.
Waste management company Cleanaway later reached a deal for its properties, plant, equipment and other assets.
SKM previously reached a $1.2 million settlement in a class action with 40 businesses and 170 individuals over the fire.
Laura Michell
