In response to the significant community interest following news of the uncertain future of recycling in southern Tasmania, as a consequence of the court ordered winding up of SKM in Victoria, we have attempted to answer the most frequently asked questions and the current state of recycling management in Clarence.
Clarence City Council, along with the other Greater Hobart councils via a joint tender, has a contract with SKM for the processing of kerbside recycling. We have a separate contract with Veolia for the collection of kerbside recycling, which Veolia then deliver to SKM to process.
The Supreme Court of Victoria has ordered SKM Corporate Pty Ltd into liquidation, however this does not currently affect SKM Recycling operating here in Tasmania, which is still operating.
All three Greater Hobart councils, and a number of regional councils have been closely monitoring the current situation and are working to find an alternative solution should SKM in Tasmania cease to operate. The key aim is to avoid recycling going to landfill.
In Clarence, the recycling that you put into your yellow bin is currently continuing to be recycled as normal and we urge residents to continue their household recycling as normal.
Our recycling currently ends up in a range of locations, with the majority of recycled glass staying in Tasmania and being reused into asphalt and cement, with the remaining products transported offshore for further processing and reuse.
The Greater Hobart region currently has a collective contamination rate of less than 20% which is significantly less than that of many mainland councils.
We encourage everyone in the community to do as much as they can to reduce their personal use of single use plastics and general waste, and to ensure that all items being placed out for recycling have been thoroughly cleaned of contaminants. Everything you do to reduce contamination in the recycling stream contributes to the viability of this important sector.
We are also currently in the process of reviewing our Waste Strategy to ascertain how we can work towards further reducing the amount of plastics and rubbish in the community. We expect to conduct community consultation on this issue soon.