Incredible images inside warehouse reveal extent of Victoria's waste crisis
Thousands of tonnes of abandoned recyclable waste has been labelled an “environmental disaster” after a Victorian recycling company went bust.
SKM Recycling has left behind about 10,000 tonnes of rubbish at a warehouse in Derrimut, in Melbourne's west, says Marwood Property Group’s Carly Whitington.
She is now searching for a way to get rid of it.
"I just really hope that Daniel Andrews (Victoria’s premier) sees that this is a major problem, it's an environmental disaster, and it needs to be dealt with,” she told Nine News.
Ms Whitington added if the government doesn’t step in the rubbish will go to landfill.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday hinted at options being considered to lighten the load on councils, several of which are being forced to send recyclables to landfill after the collapse of SKM, a major recycling processor in the state.
The ABC reported 31 councils were using SKM for recycling.
The current $66-per-tonne landfill levy is under review.
"That matter is being examined right now in terms of the additional landfill and those additional costs," Mr Andrews told reporters.
"We're not looking to make a windfall out of this."
Environment Minister Lily D 'Ambrosio told the ABC the state government is looking at diverting 40 per cent of recyclables which were headed for SKM.
Following last week's liquidation of SKM, recycler Phoenix Environmental Group was told to stop accepting waste at its Coolaroo facility over stockpiling issues.
The moves come on top of China's refusal to continue accepting large quantities of Australian waste and Malaysia's turn back of recyclables, claiming they were not properly sorted.
"We are doing a power of work to bring about a solution that isn't just about dealing with our waste but also about that circular economy ... end uses for recycled material," Mr Andrews said.
"The important thing is to get this right, so it will be a little while before we have more to say but we will have a comprehensive response."
The Labor government paid about $135 million to councils to help handle recyclable material in the face of the sector's breakdown but they have been looking for extra support.
“What we need is more players not less,” Mr Andrews said of the number of recycling processors.
A parliamentary inquiry is considering a container deposit scheme.
With AAP
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