Comments below attributable to Jo Clay regarding the CRS Waste facility:
The ACT Greens today called on waste company CRS to publicly clarify details of its proposed waste facility to address local residents’ concerns about leachate and other pollutants, congestion and the redirection of kerbside waste collection.
“The ACT Greens believe that all facilities should adhere to the conditions set by planning and environmental laws and should follow sound planning and community consultation processes. We need a well-resourced Environmental Protection Authority regulating waste and recycling facilities. Any new facility must engage in genuine recycling operations and must not stockpile waste or lead to leachate, air pollution or other pollutants.
“The ACT Government has created a problem for our community by leaving a policy hole in the waste space. Government has not conducted thorough analysis and is not issuing advice as to what types of proposals will and will not be accepted and where they should be located.
“Instead, proposals are being left to the planning system to resolve, when they are often waste policy issues. This is causing genuine angst in local communities as they feel that they must do the policy and impact analyses themselves.
“We want good recycling outcomes but this shouldn’t happen in a haphazard way. We need to plan it properly. Residents and businesses shouldn’t have to pick through the planning process to work this stuff out.
The ACT Greens would also like to draw attention to statements released earlier today by Allbids owner Rob Evans, which also operates in Fyshwick:
Rob Evans has claimed that “Canberrans are faced with a proposal to shift the processing of Canberra’s smelly household waste – all 300,000 tonnes of it – from the ACT Government facility at Mugga Lane to a commercial venture on Ipswich Street, Fyshwick, to squeeze an extra 20% of recyclables out of our kerbside garbage”
The ACT Greens note:
“Neither CRS nor the ACT Government have suggested any intention to shift kerbside waste processing from Mugga Lane to Fyshwick. Kerbside waste is collected and processed under ACT Government contracts and cannot be redirected by a private business”
“The CRS proposal is one response to the ACT Government’s strategy to recycle 90% of waste. We need to come up with strategies and support new industries that target waste streams that aren’t being recovered. The ACT Greens want this to happen based on sound evidence and open consultation.”
