By Laura Michell
Hume’s recycling collections are no longer being dumped in landfill, with the council striking a deal to send the municipality’s recyclables to the former SKM plant at Laverton North.
Hume council announced this week that collections from yellow recycling bins would return to normal from Tuesday.
The municipality’s kerbside recycling collections have been going to landfill for the past two months following the shut down of SKM Recycling.
The Supreme Court declared SKM to be insolvent on August 2, leaving 33 Victorian councils without access to a recycling facility.
The decision to wind up the company, which has a plant in Coolaroo, came a week after SKM notified councils it would temporarily cease accepting kerbside recycling collections.
Hume mayor Carly Moore thanked residents for their patience and willingness to work together to reduce waste over the past two months.
“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,” she said.
“It was pleasing to see so many people recycle through alternative options like our pop-up recycling station and the resource recovery centres.”
Cr Moore said the pop-up recycling station, which is run in partnership with the Northern Community Recycling Group, would continue for the time being. The next recycling session is on Sunday, October 20.
“Even though kerbside recycling processing has resumed, the pop-up recycling station is a great opportunity to learn more about the do’s and don’ts of recycling,” she said.
Buyer for SKM
The return of Hume’s recycling collections comes as waste company Cleanaway announced it has bought SKM.
Cleanaway chief executive Vik Bansal said the company expected to “gradually restore” recycling operations in the coming months to provide councils with a “quality, sustainable solution for their recycling”.
Recycling guide
To help residents avoid contaminating their recycling bins, Hume council has released a recycling guide.
Paper, cardboard, milk cartons, glass bottles and jars, aluminium cans, steel cans and rigid and semi-rigid plastics numbers 1-7 can all be placed in recycling bins.
Tetra Paks such as juice boxes and UHT milk cartons, lids from glass bottles and jars, and aerosols cannot be recycled.
