EPA issues stop notice to Hopley Recycling in White Hills regarding combustible recyclable waste material

The Environment Protection Authority Victoria has alleged the recycler failed to meet the requirements of the Victorian Waste Management Policy (Combustible Recyclable and Waste Materials).

The authority's north west manager, Dr Scott Pigdon, said EPA officers noticed loose stockpiles of timber waste materials without appropriate separation distances between stockpiles, buildings or the premises boundary during recent inspections.

“EPA has issued a notice that requires Hopley’s to cease to accept any further combustible recyclable waste material at the site," he said.

"We will revoke the notice when it is satisfied that Hopley is complying with the Waste Management Policy."

The policy says combustible recyclable and waste materials are: "recyclable and waste materials that could create a fire hazard, including but not limited to paper, cardboard, wood, plastic, rubber, tyres, tyre-derived waste, textile, organic material, refuse-derived fuel, specified electronic waste, metal and other materials with combustible contaminants, and combustible by-products of metal processing activities, and may include industrial or municipal waste."

Dr Pigdon said the EPA would also formally investigate whether enforcement action was warranted.

He said a specialist task force had inspected the site three times.

READ MORE: Authorities look into cause of East Bendigo fire

The EPA-led Resource Recovery Facilities Audit Taskforce inspects recycling facilities, targeting those considered to pose a high risk of harm to human health and the environment in the event of a fire.

It was established after a fire at SKM Recycling's plant at Coolaroo in July 2017, which burned for 11 days and saw nearby residents evacuated due to concerns about air quality.

The Bendigo Advertiser also understands the EPA was concerned about the potential for toxic contaminants to flow into the environment in the event of a fire at Hopley Recycling.

An angle grinder was believed to have sparked a fire at the company's recycling yard in Murphy Street earlier this month.

This is not Hopley Recycling's first interaction with the EPA, having been brought to the Bendigo Magistrates' Court in 2017 in relation to breaches of the Environmental Protection Act.

The company and two of its directors avoided conviction after pleading guilty to a combined 51 charges for breaches of the act.

Hopley Recycling was fined $7500 with $17,000 in court costs. Directors Kenneth Hopley and Justin Hopley were placed on 12-month good behaviour bonds.

READ MORE: A timeline of Hopley’s history on the White Hills site

The charges stemmed from a series of EPA inspections from 2013 to 2015, and the company’s failure to adhere to clean-up notices for storing industrial waste on land not licensed by the EPA to accept it.

The court heard Hopley Recycling was given “verbal permission” by the City of Greater Bendigo in 2008 to use some of the council’s land to store the recycled waste.

The EPA issued several notices for the company to clean up the land after becoming involved in 2013.

The court heard the land had been cleared and there were no outstanding issues by the time the matter was resolved in August 2017.

Defence counsel told the court the issues stemmed from a lack of storage space on company’s site, and processing equipment being unavailable for periods of time.

Magistrate John Doherty said they were not deserving of convictions for the breaches of the Act.

The council took the company to VCAT, but withdrew criminal charges.

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