By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Casey Council says its recycling regime will be unaffected by a Chinese ban on the importing of certain waste materials.
Casey’s waste and landfill manager Michael Jansen said the council’s contractor SKM Recycling –which collects from home recycle-bins – already produced recyclable product to China’s new, higher standard.
SKM was developing additional processing facilities with the latest sorting technology, Mr Jansen said.
“The recent changes in China’s recycling policies has not affected Council operations and we ask residents to continue recycling as normal.
“Collection services also remain the same”
Casey’s comments came before the State Government announced a $13 million assistance package for affected councils up to 30 June.
The Municipal Association of Victoria says after that date, all Victorians face extra rate rises of between 1.1 and 2.5 per cent to cover recycling costs.
“The priority for state and federal governments should now be on significant investment into our local recycling industry to help strengthen our system, and protect jobs and the environment,” Mr Spence said.
Mr Spence urged households to continue recycling in the meantime.
“Follow your Council’s instructions about what goes into your recycling bin.
“Also be mindful of your consumption choices, and buy products with recycled content to help close the recycling loop.”
The government also announced a recycling industry taskforce to plan for the industry’s “transition”.
Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the package aimed to protect jobs and ensure Victorians had confidence to continue recycling.
“We’re already investing at record levels to manage waste in the long term and we will continue to work with industry and local government to help them address these challenges.”
China is reportedly the largest importer of recyclable materials in the world.
Its ban on 24 categories of solid waste this year is believed to affect an annual average of 619,000 tonnes of material in Australia.
