The council considering $90 fee to recycle rubbish
Australian households are facing new fees to have their rubbish recycled as China continues their crackdown on importing recyclables.
The added cost of processing the material in Australia could see householders paying up to 40 per cent more to have their bins collected.
The Victorian state government gave $13 million to councils in February to help with rising processing fees but it appears far from a long-term solution.
Melbourne’s Bayside council is now proposing taxing ratepayers more than $90 extra per year to have their recycling collected.
Tory Shepherd, state editor at Adelaide’s The Advertiser, told Sunrise she did not think households would have much of a choice when it comes to paying extra to have their rubbish collected.
“It’s the surprise factor that gets me, why didn’t somebody realise that it was a precarious deal?” Shepherd asked.
“I know that relations with China have been testy lately, but this seems like it came right out of the blue.
“I guess we can just hope they come up with some innovative ways to deal with recycling to drive the cost down.”
Ben Davis, from Brisbane’s 4BC radio, questioned why Australia had been so heavily reliant on China when it comes to recycling in the first place.
“My thought is if you want something done right, you do it yourself,” Mr Davis told Sunrise.
“We have been sending this offshore too long. We are very complacent and 10 years behind the rest of the world when it comes to our rubbish.
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“Most countries in Europe and also Canada have waste energy plants … we should look after it in our own backyard.”
Meanwhile Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli on Monday told a Senate committee hearing on waste the council was planning an aggressive education campaign to drive down contamination rates, which were at a staggering 52 per cent, compared to just 15 per cent a few years ago.
He said he thought residents were confused by what could and could not be recycled.
Yahoo7 News has contacted Bayside Council for comment.
