Vic to look at tighter recycling rules
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Victoria will consider making recycling an essential service, like water and energy, in a bid to tackle the state’s growing waste problem.
The government has ordered the Essential Services Commission to review the troubled sector after a string of waste stockpile fires and site shutdowns.
“We know that more needs to be done to lift the standards of our recycling system,” Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.
Victoria’s move to look at regulating the sector in the same way as water and energy comes amid continued fallout from China’s 2017 decision to ban waste imports.
It meant kerbside recycling went to landfill in some council areas.
A parliamentary inquiry is already looking at Victoria’s recycling and waste management sector, and last month’s state budget threw $35 million over three years at the problem.
But the opposition has accused the government of sitting on $500 million collected through the landfill levy and dragging its feet on a fix.
“They’ve known about this crisis for two years, so their response two years down the track is they now want to send it off to another organisation to do an investigation,” opposition spokesman Nick Wakeling said.
With AAP
Pearl Dy is a community manager and journalist. She is passionate about business and development particularly involving not-for-profits, charity and social entrepreneurship.
