By Ewen McRae
Moorabool Council has been forced to find a new recycling provider, after the EPA ordered troubled operator SKM to stop receiving recyclables.
The EPA ban forced SKM to close its four processing plants at Coolaroo, Laverton, Geelong and Hallam until further notice.
The council – which is one of 32 across the state affected by the closures – will send their recycling to a small facility near Ballarat for the next two weeks while a permanent solution is sought.
“It was important to us that we try hard to keep recycling out of landfill and we have a temporary solution to do this,” a council statement said.
“In terms of residential bin collections, we encourage residents to continue separating their recyclable materials and put their bins out as normal.
“Just be aware, collections may occur later than normal on your nominated day.
We will continue to keep our communities updated as this situation evolves.”
SKM has been repeatedly fined by the state’s environmental watchdog over breaches of waste management laws.
Melton Council has a recycling contract with Visy and is unaffected by the SKM closure.
