A NEW draft plan to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill has been released by the Queensland Government.
The Queensland Waste Strategy 2025–2030 ‘Less Landfill, More Recycling’
was launched with an invitation to the public to comment on the various initiatives planned to reduce the amount of waste that can’t be recycled.
“The plan targets a reduction of rubbish and a major boost to recycling, along with a new $130 million fund to kickstart critical waste infrastructure investment,” said Minister for the Environment, Andrew Powell.
“The waste levy will be reviewed and there will be no changes to the Containers for Change refund, as the focus shifts to diverting more from landfill and into recycling.”
As part of the ‘Less Landfill, More Recycling’ plan, a new $130 million Resource Recovery Boost fund will support councils in developing initiatives and infrastructure to divert waste from household red bins to green and yellow bins.
The government also announced a review of the current waste levy arrangements, considering the potential impacts from New South Wales levy rates and cross-border waste movements and the influence of payments to local governments on achieving waste.
Excluded, exempt and discounted waste types will also be reviewed.
“The new Waste Strategy will focus on creating new industries that will boost the number of jobs in the waste sector in Queensland,” Minister Powell said.
Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia CEO Gayle Sloan said she welcomed the plan for a new Queensland Waste Strategy.
“Queensland needs to divert two million tonnes of material from landfill over the next five years, which creates huge investment and job creation opportunities, if we get the policy and economic settings right,” she said.
“The waste and resource recovery industry looks forward to working with the government on getting these settings right, to enable investment in resource recovery, create end markets, and keep Queensland’s valuable resources in circulation longer, reducing reliance on new materials and mitigating carbon impacts.”
Public consultation on the new plan is open for comment until close of business on June 26.
