OCTOBER 15, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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United off to flying start Western United is off and running in its inaugural A-League season, claiming a 1-0 victory over Wellington on Sunday. Head coach Mark Rudan said it was pleasing to be playing games for points, after a long build-up establishing the club in the west of Melbourne. “As a new club we’ve been working tirelessly behind the scenes to build this football club, but now we start to rock and roll,” Rudan said. “It’s been a good response from the … community, particularly the first three practise games at Caroline Springs which exceeded our expectations in terms of the people who supported the football club or wanted to find out what we’re all about. “We’re working very hard away from the football field to connect with the community.” Rudan said showing the western region what the club was about was a big focus in its early days. The club has a current membership base of just over 2500 and is hoping to double that in its first season. Head of football Steve Horvat said it had plans to open a football academy in the west in the next 12 months, and was hopeful of expanding into other areas. ■ More in sport: Page 43 Ewen McRae
The crowd cheers at the final practice game in Geelong. (Alan Barber) Inset: Inaugural captain Alessandro Diamati with Mark Rudan. (Supplied)
Recycling talks begin By Tate Papworth Brimbank council is in negotiations with waste management company Cleanaway to sure up a permanent new kerbside recycling agreement. The council had previously contracted SKM for its recycling. The company folded in July, owing tens of millions of dollars and brought the municipality’s kerbside recycling to an abrupt halt. A massive 2314 tonnes of recyclable material from across Brimbank was dumped in landfill for more than eight weeks.
The council was left $185,000 out of pocket, but has since received a state government grant to offset the costs of landfilling recyclables. The council had arranged a short-term agreement with SKM receivers, KordaMentha to process its kerbside collected recyclable material at the Laverton North processing facility. The $66 million purchase of SKM by Cleanaway was announced last week. Brimbank council acting director infrastructure and city services Tom Razmovski said a new arrangement was now in the works.
“Given the acquisition by Cleanaway of the SKM assets, a new contract will need to be negotiated,” he said. “Council will also continue to liaise with the Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group in relation to the options for long term arrangements for the processing of Brimbank’s recyclables.” It’s yet to be determined if the new contract will impact rates, but Mr Razmovski said the kerbside recycling process would remain the same for the foreseeable future. “Given a new contract is still to be negotiated, the cost of service and any impact on rates is
yet to be determined,” Mr Razmovski said. “At this stage council is not looking to change the current kerbside collection arrangements, however the state government is in the process of preparing a circular economy strategy which may provide options for new recycling services for council’s consideration.” Cleanaway’s purchase of SKM doesn’t solve the issue of five warehouses left with thousands of tonnes of stockpiled glass, paper, cardboard and plastic. ■ Warehouse
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waste worries: Page 8