Mayor slams state’s offer on recycling funds

GEELONG’S mayor has hit out at the State Government’s $11.3 million package to help councils struggling with the cost of recycling, claiming it is too little.

City of Greater Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood said the package would be stretched too thin to help solve councils cope with the closure of processing facility SKM Recycling — which has caused dozens of councils to send kerbside recycling to landfill.

“$11 million for 33 councils is not going to cut it, it just isn’t,” Cr Harwood said yesterday. “It’s only about $300,000 per council.

“It’s great to have an investment of money, but it’s not enough and it’s not the right way to go about it.

“We need a big investment in relation to the options of a container deposit scheme — which has proven success and we’re the only state not to have it — a municipal recycling facility . . . and the fourth bin.”

He said the council had been discussing a fourth recycling bin for some time, but would need closer to $6 million to roll out the project.

“They’re saying they may invest in the fourth bin, well the community needs surety,” he said. “It should be considered and should be done.”

Cr Harwood said the Government needed to provide real options with time a “critical factor”.

The Government could not say whether it would adopt a container deposit scheme.

Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio came under attack in Question Time over her handling of the crisis.

“We are working with councils to deliver what they’ve asked of us,” Ms D’Ambrosio told parliament.

Despite Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien’s repeated questions about whether councils forced to send recycling to tips would have the bin tax suspended, the minister sidestepped the issue.

Earlier Ms D’Ambrosio said SKM had been undercutting rivals, with many councils now paying double for collection.

About $6.6 million of the funding package will go to help councils pay for the new recycling collection, which will introduce more bins for households to reduce contamination.

But she could not say what would go into the “fourth bin” for households.

For years, Australia has been sending mixed recycling offshore for other countries to deal with, but the crisis started when China stopped accepting foreign materials.