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A major recycling company fearing administration was warning that 400,000 tonnes of glbad, paper, plastic and metals could be sent to the landfill each year.
Victoria-based SKM Recycling has issued the warning as part of a parliamentary inquiry into the waste management crisis that has worsened since China put in place an effective ban on most recyclable materials imported in 2017.
State councils have called on all levels of government to take action to deal with the crisis and boost local recycling. Environment Victoria, the state's largest green group, said the best short-term scenario could be the sale of SKM's badets to an established company committed to transforming the waste sector.
SKM Recycling has been fined twice and has been banned from accepting recyclable materials this year after the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) found waste inventories that were at risk. Fire and health.
EPA Acting Chief Paul Stacchino has publicly criticized the company that "it was enough" last month after failing to reduce piles of waste at a plant in Laverton North, in West Melbourne . A small fire in Laverton North last week followed a larger fire at its Coolaroo plant in the north of the city in 2017, which forced 115 nearby homes to be evacuated.
The company did not respond to an interview request prior to publication, but in its submission to Parliament, it stated that the Victorian Government's policies did not deal effectively with what would happen if a major rebreather , such as SKM, ceased operations. She suggested that an additional 400,000 tonnes could be landfilled each year.
SKM said it has modernized its operations to meet China's stricter standards for the contamination of recyclable paper and board, and has been the only Australian company to meet these standards. But he said that this resulted in a reduction in the treatment rate, which led to an increase in stocks.
The company has been heavily criticized by the government, councils and environmentalists.
Jonathan La Nauze, General Manager of Environment Victoria, said that SKM should "put its business in order or get out of the industry", in the interest of its workers and public. He added that if the company entered the administration, the best case scenario was the following: "a reputable company buys them and puts them to the standards".
"The status quo is completely unacceptable," he said.
The Nauze said that the state government of Andrews was taking positive steps to solve the problem, including publishing a discussion paper on a circular economy signaling a long-term reform, but warned that There could be no case where factories would be prohibited from receiving recycled material without a plan in place.
"It would be inexcusable if there was no emergency plan this time," he said. "It's an essential service. It is not acceptable to the public that recyclables end up in landfills. "
SKM is one of the top three recyclables processing companies in Victoria. Polytrade and Visy are the others. SKM claims to have more than 30 municipalities collecting curbside materials, of which approximately 90% are sold in national and international markets for recycling.
The problems facing the recycling sector were highlighted last week when Indonesia announced that it would return eight waste containers to Australia because they were contaminated. Countries in Southeast Asia are increasingly warning that they will not be a dumping ground for developed nations' waste as Chinese rules tighten.
However, the Victoria Municipal Association, which represents state councils, has blamed most of the problems that the state recycling industry is facing with SKM's failure to meet its obligations. "We need the state to work with the industry to strengthen the sorting capacity in various facilities so that we do not go from one crisis to another," said the badociation's president, Coral Ross.
A spokeswoman for the Victorian government said SKM's state disrespect showed new players in the sector. She said the state is transforming its thinking about waste and spending $ 135 million to help diversify the market and allow boards to renegotiate recycling contracts.
Trevor Evans, recently appointed Australian Prime Minister of Waste Reduction, told Guardian Australia this week that the Morrison government would set "ambitious" targets, forcing all states and territories to spend part of their purchasing recycled materials, but declined to specify the intended purpose. be.
The municipal badociation asked the Morrison government to introduce product management rules that would require manufacturers to create products that generate little or no waste. The federal government could also prohibit or better regulate the production and importation of hard-to-recycle materials and introduce standardized labeling of packaging and a certification system for the use of recycled content.
He acknowledged that the Victorian government was working on long-term solutions and that boards were committed to helping develop a recycling market by buying recycled content.
Ross said the first goal should be to avoid generating waste. "Then we have to reduce, reuse and recycle, in that order, rather than just focusing on recycling," she said.
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