The Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) today welcomes the Queensland Palaszczuk’s Government confirmation that the landfill levy will be reintroduced in early 2019 as part of the improved approach to the management of waste and resource recovery in Queensland.
“WMAA recognises that there is a lot of work to be done in ensuring that both the Queensland policy and the levy are successfully implemented. We look forward to working closely with Government in developing the detail of how both the policy and levy.”
It is vital that Government listen to both industry and the community in finalising this detail, as there are significant issues with the current waste and resource recovery policy and legislation in Queensland, particularly in relation to its treatment of licensed sites, application for resource recovery facilities, and regulation of sites.
The Queensland government has a great opportunity to develop a robust and dynamic resource recovery industry in the next five years, and create the jobs and investment that is required if it creates the correct policy and legislative settings required. This means that it needs to ensure that industry has certainty in both planning and regulation and the current impediments to doing business well in Queensland are removed.
“The ultimate goal of WMAA is to achieve sustainable and environmentally sensitive waste management across the entire industry,” said CEO Gayle Sloan. “And to ensure a level playing field for all organisations, and for the betterment of the services provided to the public.”
WMAA welcomes the Queensland government’s commitment to creating a circular economy within Australia by encouraging redesign, reduction, reuse, recycling, and manufacturing. The last piece of the puzzle is a harmonised approach to create a circular economy in Australia, wherein we can develop onshore local markets and create local employment (for every 10,000 tonnes of waste recycled, more than 9.2 jobs are created).