By Laura Michell
SKM Recycling has been fined more than $16,000 for stockpiling waste at its Coolaroo and Laverton North sites.
The fine – which was issued by the Environment Protection Authority – comes almost eight weeks after the authority shut down the two sites.
The EPA ordered SKM to stop accepting recyclable materials at the sites on February 14 amid concerns stockpiles of waste posed a fire hazard.
The closure created a recycling crisis for councils across Melbourne, with many forced to send kerbside recycling collections to landfill for five weeks.
The EPA allowed the Laverton North plant to reopen on March 12 and the Coolaroo site reopened on March 21.
The Coolaroo recycling plant was the site of three fires in 2017, including a major blaze in July that covered parts of the northern suburbs in acrid smoke and burned for 11 days.
SKM Recycling and its director have since been charged by the EPA.
EPA resource recovery facilities audit taskforce manager Danny Childs said SKM was fined as it breached the requirements of statutory notices at both sites in January.
He said the company was issued notices requiring it to modify the configuration of its stockpiles.
SKM missed the required deadline, meaning it was no longer compliant with the Victorian Waste Management Policy. As a result, the EPA ordered the company to stop accepting waste, Mr Childs said.
“For SKM to not comply with a notice … shows disrespect to the law, the community and our environment,” he said.
