Kerbside recycling to continue in Loddon Shire

Published on 22 January 2020

Loddon Shire residents are encouraged to continue recycling during the coming weeks following the announcement of temporary changes to recyclable material recovery.

Council was advised on Friday afternoon that its contractor Veolia would be temporarily suspending processing of all comingled material at the Echuca Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), effective Monday 20 January 2020, until further notice.

Visy Recycling has suspended receipt of mixed paper supply from Veolia due to the direct impact from recent bushfires at Tumut, NSW, where the Visy Paper Mill processes mixed paper from kerbside recycling. Mixed paper and cardboard make up a high percentage of materials processed at the Echuca MRF, and the decision has been made to suspend all processing on site.

There is no impact on the fortnightly collection of household recycling bins in Loddon Shire, and residents should continue to put only their recyclables into their yellow lid bin as usual.

Council has no alternative but to direct recyclable material to landfill for the short term, which is an unfortunate, but unavoidable outcome of Veolia suspending its operations.

Temporary stockpiling of material was considered, but decided against based on fire risk, the risk to human health, infrastructure capacity, and the financial impact on Council given the expected short duration of interruption. Our priority is always to protect the health and safety of the community.

Council is committed to maintaining its recycling services to residents, and will continue to work with Veolia to investigate alternatives within the terms of its contract.

In the short term, to avoid sending recyclable materials to landfill, we ask residents to only put their recycling bin out if it is full, and to compress and compact the material they put in their bin.

Loddon Shire landfills and transfer stations will continue to operate as usual, with recyclable material collection and separation skips in place.

We urge all residents to continue to recycle as usual, and we will inform you of any changes in your kerbside collection service. Residents can check Council’s website at www.loddon.vic.gov.au/For-residents/Your-home/Garbage-and-recycling/Garbage-and-recycle-service to find out what can and cannot be recycled in their area.