Government Planning Waste Levy

March 20, 2018

The State Government will introduce a waste levy to stop Queensland being a dumping ground for interstate waste.

The waste levy is also expected to hit large construction companies and waste operators, but households will be exempt.

On Tuesday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk released the final report and recommendations following an investigation into the transfer of interstate waste into Queensland, led by Justice Peter Lyons QC, which was commissioned last year.

“Following the findings and recommendations from Justice Lyons’ report, my Government is developing a comprehensive waste and recycling strategy that will stem the tide of interstate waste and set the direction for sustainable waste management in Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

The government will establish a Stakeholder Advisory Group, with representatives from industry, to help develop Queensland’s waste management framework.

“While this strategy will be underpinned by a waste levy, I can assure Queenslanders it will incorporate measures to avoid costs for households,” the Premier said.

“I made the commitment that my Government would not increase taxes for Queensland households, and I stand by that.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the results of public consultation and feedback from the Stakeholder Advisory Group would inform the specifics about the levy arrangements.

“We did have a levy in Queensland but in 2012 it was recklessly scrapped, which made Queensland a cheap place to dump.

“That action also resulted in a number of lost economic opportunities for the local waste industry in terms of investment and employment.”

The new strategy will also look at encouraging the development of recycling services.

The government estimates every 10,000 tonnes of waste that goes into landfill supports 2.8 jobs, but would support 9.2 jobs if the same waste was recycled.

It also estimates that Queensland puts approximately 5.5 million tonnes of waste into landfills each year, but in 2016-17 one million tonnes of that was interstate waste.

The government believes the introduction of a levy would create a price signal for the market, encouraging increased recycling and attracting new investment.

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