On July 1st 2019 the Queensland State Government will introduce a $75/tonne landfill levy. The levy comes after several years of increasing amounts of landfill being shipped into south east QLD from NSW and even Victoria to avoid the levies in those states.
It is estimated that one million tonnes of dry, general waste are transported from NSW to QLD each year.
Garbology has expressed our frustration around this practice in the past, especially relating to one specific waste company who is lauded as a sustainability champion yet is one of the biggest exponents of this loophole, flagrantly trucking waste 900 kilometres from Sydney to Ipswich on a daily basis.
Well at least the new levy in QLD might get some contractors to consider this bizarre interstate movement of waste, right?
WRONG!
The word in the industry is that trucking waste from Sydney to Ipswich will still be $50 per tonne cheaper than landfilling in Sydney and, not only will it continue, but some businesses will actually increase the volume of garbage sent north beyond July this year. The freight companies contracted to ship waste are known to be increasing their fleet to cope with the increases.
The problem is not the difference in the levy imposed by each State but the base landfill fees themselves which are considerably cheaper in Queensland.
The Queensland government will now generate even more money from the continued migration of waste north of the border and will continue to profit from this practice, at least in the short term, without accounting for whole-of-life costs of a landfill.
Garbology again points customers of waste companies to the Waste of Origin pledge created by WMAA to find a provider that has committed to not transporting waste interstate.
Garbology also calls for WMAA to repeat calls for companies to sign the Waste of Origin pledge to include any businesses that will cease this practice post July 2019.