The recycling industry has warned that curbside recycling might not be viable for much longer after China banned imports of Australian paper and plastic waste from the start of this year.

The industry understands Melbourne-based recycling company Visy told two council contractors last week it would stop accepting recyclable material from February 9 because it could no longer find anyone to sell it to. 

One of the contractors, Wheelie Waste, services 11 councils in Western Victoria. Horsham and Ararat councils are among the four councils searching to find somewhere to dump their recycling. 

Horsham Rural City Council mayor Pam Clarke said council was working internally in the hope of finding another contractor while the Municipal Association of Victoria and Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio worked to find a solution. 

Cr Clarke said council would continue to accept recyclable material for as long as possible. 

She urged residents to not lose confidence in the recycling system. 

In a statement, Ararat Rural City Council said it was business as usual for waste collection while it worked with other municipalities to find a solution. 

The Buloke Shire Council was affected by the recycling halt. However, the council’s contractor Four Seasons Waste has secured a short-term agreement with Polytrade to accept the municipalities recyclable material. 

Grampians Central West Waste and Resource Recovery Group executive officer La Vergne Lehmann stressed residents should continue recycling.

She said the current problem should not undo many years of good recycling behaviours.

Ms Lehmann said the resource recovery group would work with affected councils who were committed to finding a solution to the global issue. 

“We need to address the initial problem first, which is the February 9 deadline. But, this is a global problem that streams from issues in China,” she said. 

“Our councils are committed to continue collections. There might need to be short-term solutions to the problem, but everyone is committed to working towards those long-term solutions.

“It’s important we work together because we do not want recyclable material to got to landfill – there is no appetite for sending it there.

“There’s a lot of work to do in this space and it is just the start of what I think is going to be a fairly big change.”