City of Stirling director of infrastructure Geoff Eves said the City was assessing its options, but confirmed 22,000 tonnes of waste would be sent to Shenton Park recycling facility, AnaeCo Recycling, under a contractual agreement.
‘Waste disposal is the responsibility of local government. Unfortunately, when the Atlas plant closed there were no facilities available to accommodate the City’s waste,’ Mr Eves said.
‘The City of Stirling is reviewing its waste management options, including the State Government’s preferred choice of three bins. Council is likely to make a decision in the coming weeks.’
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READ NOWState Environment Minister Albert Jacob said he was disappointed the City of Stirling had been sending all kerbside waste to landfill and hoped the City would consider a three-bin system under the state’s Better Bins Kerbside Collection pilot program.
‘The closure of the recycling facility is disappointing and I would hope that the residents of the City of Stirling will soon be able to recycle,’ Mr Jacob said.
‘The aim is to increase recycling rates by making it easier for householders to recycle. The system is widely used in the eastern states and recycling rates in these states is significantly higher than Western Australia.’
Mirrabooka MLA Janine Freeman said Mr Jacob should work more closely with the City of Stirling to ensure effective recycling for residents.
‘I am disappointed that the Minister for Environment has been aware the City of Stirling has been putting its waste into landfill since August 2013 and has done nothing to assist them reach a resolution to their predicament,’ she said.
‘The Minister for Environment and this State Government have been happy to take money for the waste levy from City of Stirling residents but sat idly by when one of the largest councils in Western Australia could no longer meet residents’ expectations for effective and environmentally sound waste disposal.
‘Indeed in the recent State Budget the waste levy doubled but only 25 per cent of it will go to ensuring waste mitigation, the rest will be spent on Government projects like Elizabeth Quay.’
Mr Eves confirmed only small batches of recycling had begun to trickle through to the AnaeCo recycling plant and full-scale operations would begin by late 2014. Fees are still being negotiated.