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The closure of SKM recycling plants (see above) meant material from recycling bins collected in Golden Plains Shire has gone into landfill for several months.

Recycling returns to Golden Plains Shire

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Recycling collected in Golden Plains Shire will no longer automatically go to landfill from next week.

A new agreement between the council and waste management company Cleanaway will start from next Monday, December 16.

It means that uncontaminated paper, glass, metals and plastics should be recycled for the first time in several months.

To stop recycling heading back to landfill in the future, we need the help of everyone to only put the correct recyclables in yellow lid binsGolden Plains Shire mayor Cr Owen Sharkey

Golden Plains Shire Mayor Cr Owen Sharkey said residents should start getting back into the habit of recycling properly.

He said: "To stop recycling heading back to landfill in the future, we need the help of everyone to only put the correct recyclables in yellow lid bins."

No plastic bags, polystyrene packaging or soft plastic packaging will be accepted, nor will metal pots and pans, clothing and footwear or coated cardboard cartons.

A press release issued by Golden Plains Shire said Cleanaway would work with councils "to identify local secondary markets to maximise the sustainable re-use of recyclables, with an initial focus on the re-use of glass."

The new deal for Golden Plains Shire will also cover three other municipalities, including the City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire, and the Borough of Queenscliffe. The Colac Otway Shire will continue with a different processor until next September but will collaborate on a recycling campaign.

The five municipalities are known collectively as the G21 councils.

Waste from all bins collected in Golden Plains Shire - including recycling bins - had gone to landfill since the collapse of SKM Recycling earlier this year.

Golden Plains Shire had been among 31 councils across the state to use the company. SKM hit financial difficulty following a clampdown in China's policy towards importing recycled materials, which started at the beginning of 2018.

At the end of July, SKM stopped accepting materials gathered from kerbside recycling. It previously shut down in February this year and later reopened, but went into administration following the July shutdown.

Ballarat City Council put in place a temporary materials sorting facility to maintain its recycling before signing a new agreement with Australian Paper Recovery in September. The new arrangement does not allow for the recycling of glass.

Pyrenees Shire also later struck a similar deal with Australian Paper Recovery, with residents requested not to include glass in their recycling bins from the beginning of last month.

Of the municipalities surrounding Ballarat, only Moorabool Shire has not announced an alternative arrangement, and all material collected from its kerbside bins continues to go to landfill.

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