Victorian authorities failed to prevent the state sleepwalking into a recycled waste crisis, amid signs China was curbing imports six years ago, a scathing watchdog report has concluded.
The auditor general report released this week noted the state’s environment department and Sustainability Victoria had ignored early warnings.
“The state’s heavy reliance on exporting recyclables, particularly plastic and paper, left it vulnerable,” the report said.
“Recent significant restrictions in the waste export market has brought this issue into sharp focus. This risk was not without early warning.”
China sent shock waves through the global recycling market in 2013 when it announced it would no longer accept poorly sorted or dirty shipments of recyclable waste from foreign exporters.
The Malaysian government has recently indicated it will follow suit and send back up to 100 tonnes of Australian plastic waste because it was too contaminated to recycle.
The watchdog noted Victoria had been without a statewide waste policy since the Andrews government came to power in 2014.
As a result government agencies’ responses to waste issues had been “ad hoc and reactive”, the report said.
The Environment Protection Authority had not effectively regulated the waste industry.
“It has been slow to act – firstly with combustible recyclable and waste materials in recovery facilities – and more recently with hazardous waste stockpiles,” the report said.
“In both instances, EPA intervened only at the point of crisis.”
The report pointed to a fire at the Coolaroo recycling factory in July 2017 which burned for 11 days and resulted in homes being evacuated.
“EPA has not effectively monitored and addressed the growth of inappropriately managed stockpiles across the state, which pose health and fire risks to the community and the environment,” the report said.
Despite a $511m sustainability fund, there had been a “lack of action to minimise waste, to invest in infrastructure, and closely regulate the sector.” The report said the unspent funding had previously been recognised as part of the state’s bottom line.
Victorians generated nearly 12. m tonnes of waste in 2016-17 and 67% was recovered for recycling but it’s not clear how much ended up in landfill because the data is unreliable, the report said.
The auditor general recommended authorities reduce the sector’s reliance on international markets by encouraging the establishment of local processing facilities.
The environment minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, defended the government’s spending on the recycling sector and insisted some of the report’s recommendations were already being implemented.
“We’ve invested a record $135m in waste and recycling initiatives and will continue to look at how we can transition to a safer, more sustainable waste industry,” she said.
Last month’s state budget included a $35m package for the sector over three years, including $13.8m to encourage for new entrants in recycling processing.
D’Ambrosio has announced the essential services commission will review recycling services in Victoria, to look at whether the sector should be regulated as an essential service like water and energy.
The opposition environment spokesman, David Morris, said the sector had been starved of cash for too long.
“Victoria is in the grip of a waste crisis and Daniel Andrews needs to stop using the proceeds of the half billion dollar bin tax to prop up his sham surplus, and start spending it to prevent a complete collapse of the recycling system,” Morris said.
