By Esther Lauaki
Campaigners against the expansion of Ravenhall landfill are angry the tip will be accepting hundreds of tonnes of recycling from nearby suburbs.
The Cleanaway Melbourne Regional Landfill is set to receive about 175 tonnes of recycling from Hobsons Bay after the Environment Protection Authority banned SKM Recycling from accepting recyclable waste at its Coolaroo and Laverton North sites due to fire risks.
Melton council told residents it was not among the 20 Victorian councils affected by closures which are now into their third week (since February 15).
It is unclear when the sites will reopen.
But Stop the Tip campaigners, who have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over Cleanaway’s 93-hectare expansion proposal, have concerns that more waste going to landfill means more problems for residents.
Lead campaigner Marion Martin said the community was “unhappy” with the recyclable waste arrangement.
“It’s bad enough that we have a landfill stuck in the middle of residential areas,” Ms Martin said.
She said the group, which appeared before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) last year opposing the tip expansion, was still awaiting a decision.
“We spent six weeks at VCAT from September through October … I believe it was one of the longest cases that VCAT had heard,” Ms Martin said. “Part of the conversation was about recycling going to the landfill and we were told that this would not be the case – but obviously now it is actually happening.
“The government needs to do something about it.”
