Victoria's recycling crisis set to worsen, WMRR warns, after SKM plants sanctioned by EPA

The national peak body for waste management says Victoria's recycling crisis is likely to get worse as pressure continues to pile on the industry. Key points: The peak body says the recycling crisis will worsen due to lack of demand for processed material The comments follow an EPA ban on major recyclers from accepting more material at two sites Councils are being forced to dump recyclable material into landfill The Environment Protection Authority imposed the ban due to fire risks, forcing some of the councils which deal with SKM — more than 20 in total — to start sending tonnes of recyclable material directly to landfill. 'Governments have not done one tangible thing' China's ban on the importation of 24 types of recyclable materials in January 2018 sent Australia's waste management industry, which indirectly employs about 50,000 people, into crisis. Ms Sloan said current and past efforts to get one waste management company to handle a council's recyclable materials when another cannot fails to address the fundamental problem. Ms D'Ambrosio said the Government had been working with 22 local government councils affected by SKM's ban to continue kerbside recycling.