By Laura Michell
Hundreds of tonnes of recycling from Hume and Whittlesea will be dumped in landfill after a decision by SKM Recycling to stop accepting recyclable material.
The recycler contacted councils last Thursday night to inform them it would immediately stop accepting recyclables at its Coolaroo, Laverton North and Geelong plants.
SKM has contracts for kerbside waste collections with 32 councils and said the shutdown was temporary.
The closure came one day after the Environment Protection Authority ordered Glass Recovery Services, which is linked to SKM, to stop accepting combustible recyclables at its Coolaroo plant.
SKM spokesman Rob Spence told ABC radio the temporary closure was a result of the EPA’s ban on Glass Recovery Services.
“If the glass plant had been left open … then we wouldn’t have this problem. But in fact, the EPA stopped the plant operating,” he said.
“[SKM] can’t take any more [recycling] without breaching their permits with the EPA.”
In a statement posted to Facebook, Hume council said it was “extremely disappointed” and angry to be sending recycling to landfill.
The council said it was faced with the tough decision of stopping collections or sending the contents of the 7600 bins it empties daily to landfill.
“There is simply no other choice. We cannot stockpile it until an alternative solution is found because, given the quantity, it is simply not safe to do so,” the statement read.
“In 2019, it’s just not good enough. The community has every right to be concerned.
“Hume City Council has been leading the call for all levels of government to better work together to ensure a sustainable waste and resource recovery industry in Australia through our Waste Regulation Campaign.”
Whittlesea council city transport and presentation director Nick Mann confirmed the recycling would be sent to the Wollert landfill.
“It’s important that residents continue to separate recyclables into the right kerbside bins in case SKM returns to operation or an alternative is found,” he said.
