The continuing failure of the State Labor Government to approve the sale of high quality compost has created a crisis in the recycling industry, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Catherine Cusack said today.

“High quality compost extracted from recycled household garbage has been successfully used in agriculture, turf farms, mine rehabilitation and roadside landscaping for more than a decade. But a bureaucratic bungle by the State Labor Government has resulted in a sudden ban on sales, forcing recycling centres to stockpile tens of thousands of tonnes of this valuable resource,” Ms Cusack said.

“While the Keneally Government dithers, recycling centres are running out of space to store the compost which is accumulating at thousands of tonnes a week.

“In Coffs Harbour the operator has run out of space and been forced to bury thousands of tonnes of compost in landfill - a stunning waste of money and a valuable resource for agriculture.

“This ludicrous situation is the direct result of the inertia and incompetence by the State Labor Government which has spent 5 years and $500,000 studying the compost but is yet to produce workable regulations governing sales.

“The situation came to a head last October when a NSW Government inspector suddenly ordered the Coffs Harbour centre to stop selling the compost to agriculture. The ban was extended across the State resulting in stockpiles of 20,000 tonnes of recycled material.

“Environment Minister Frank Sartor must realise this is a crisis as recycling centres run out of space for these rapidly growing stockpiles.

“The situation is so bad, the State Labor Government's own recycling facilities have been forced to go to the media begging for a solution.

“In an unprecedented move, the State owned “Global Renewables” at Eastern Creek has today gone public, revealing they have stockpiled 8,000 tonnes of material since November, due to the impasse.

“With compost accumulating at thousands of tonnes a week, Environment Minister Frank Sartor must lift the ban on sales and urgently resolve the regulation deadlock.

“These ever growing mountains of compost are costing ratepayers and industry a fortune, and damaging the viability of our recycling businesses,” Ms Cusack said.