Andrews vows action over recycling crisis

THE Victorian Government will consider a rollback of its waste landfill levy, insisting there is no quick fix for the state’s beleaguered recycling sector.

Premier Daniel Andrews yesterday 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 major processor SKM.

The $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 said.

“We’re not looking to make a windfall out of this.”

Other options being considered include a mandated boost to the quantity of recycled glass used in road base.

The Premier also pointed to using recycled plastic to make railway sleepers, noisereduction walls beside freeways and furniture for public places.

“There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” Mr Andrews said, although he was not planning an announcement any time soon.

“We may need to change our behaviour, we may need to sort differently, we may need to separate different waste products and then we need to create the end markets. It’s no good . . . sorting all of this waste if there’s no ultimate use for it,” he said.

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 coincide with 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 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,” he said of the number of recycling processors.

A parliamentary inquiry is considering a container deposit scheme.