Labor confirms recycling collection in doubt

In Question Time in Parliament yesterday the Minister for Environment, Lily D’Ambrosio refused to guarantee that kerb side recycling collection will continue in Victoria.

Victorian households will be alarmed to learn that a service like kerb side recycling may no longer exist and it may very well become their problem to manage

This throws into question where, and how, the tonnes of recyclables that Victorians place in their recycling bins each week, will be managed.

It has been 581 days since China announced it will no longer be accepting our recycling.

Labor’s own Sustainability Fund Statement proposes  the creation and expansion of markets for recyclables, and  maximising of resource recovery opportunities. Despite these stated Government priorities Labor’s Minister for Environment Lily D’Ambrosio has been all talk, and no action.

On 3 July 2018 Minister D’Ambrosio issued a media release about a “Recycling Industry Strategic Plan” for Victoria.

However, since then it has been yet another case of complete inaction by Labor to address this issue before it became a crisis.

As a result of Labor’s inaction Victoria’s recyclables are going to be dumped in landfill.

And yet again we see Labor attempt to palm of their responsibility for this slow moving train wreck to anyone they can, be it a taskforce, or the Federal or Local Governments.

Labor must stop hiding away from this crisis. With half a billion dollars sitting in the sustainability fund, the time for talk is over, the Government must act now to fix this mess.

Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Environment, David Morris:

“Victorians households pay a significant amount of money each year for their recyclables to be collected and will rightly be alarmed that the Andrews Labor Government refused to guarantee that this will continue into the future

“Daniel Andrews and Labor have had 581 days to work out how to solve this problem, but once again they’ve failed to find a solution.

“There is over half a billion dollars sitting in a fund that was collected to fix this exact problem, but rather than put it to use, Daniel Andrews would rather play the blame game rather than deliver basic services.”

BACKGROUND

18 July 2017 – China confirms its intent to ban certain recyclables from import.

1 January 2018 – Commencement of China’s import ban.

15 February 2018 – Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority ordered SKM Services to stop accepting recyclable waste at its Coolaroo and Laverton sites due to concerns that stockpiled plastic posed a fire hazard.

3 July 2018 – Andrews Government announces the Recycling Industry Strategic Plan.

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