Landfill at Swanbank.
Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli today announced a council taskforce will crack down on all local waste industries to ensure they improve operations and comply with council local laws and planning permits.
Mayor Antoniolli welcomed state government moves to re-introduce a Queensland waste levy.
He again called on the government to now “call in” the application for a facility proposed by waste management company Biorecycle. A strong stance against over-sized dumping grounds would remove the potential for expensive legal disputes through the Planning and Environment Court.
“The levy is a great start,” Mayor Antoniolli said.
“Hopefully, this charge of between $60 and $70 a tonne will significantly reduce the large quantities of waste which is coming to Ipswich from interstate.
“But we need to do more, and on behalf of residents I’ve been in talks with multiple ministers over the past week to make very clear this city’s objection to Ipswich becoming the nation’s dumping ground.”
A crackdown on compliance would further expose any rogue elements who were abusing the operational requirements which are in place.
“In addition, we are conducting a review of the Ipswich Planning Scheme,” he said.
“We now call upon the state to review its own regulations on waste management.
“We are happy to work together with the state government in whatever ways we can to make such a review work in the favour of the people of Ipswich.
“As a council, we are creating a stronger framework which allows more effective management of waste industries in our city.
“We will ensure that waste operators to minimise any impact they have on residential communities which are developing around them.
“Ipswich is a fast-growing city, and we are committed to residential growth, not waste growth. Today, I want people to be assured that this council will do absolutely everything within its power to hold waste operators to account.
“Waste operators are under the microscope. They are being monitored by authorities.
“We will work closely with the state, and we will be exercising every option available to us to ensure operators are doing the right thing.”
Ipswich Mayor Andrew Antoniolli.
Don't forget ...
State Government moves to reintroduce waste levy
The Palaszczuk Government has today announced a strategy to stop Queensland from being the dumping ground for interstate waste.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has released the final report and recommendations following the investigation into the transfer of interstate waste into Queensland, led by Justice Peter Lyons QC.
The Palaszczuk Government is also releasing its response to the report, which was commissioned last year.
“Following the findings and recommendations from Justice Lyons’s report, my Government is developing a comprehensive waste and recycling strategy that will stem the tide of incoming interstate waste and set the direction for sustainable waste management in Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“We will also establish a Stakeholder Advisory Group, with representatives from industry, to help develop Queensland’s waste management framework.
“We need to ensure that big construction companies and unscrupulous operators in the waste industry will no longer take advantage of Queenslanders.”
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 by the LNP, 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.”
Minister for Environment Leeanne Enoch said the State Government’s strategy looked at longer term solutions, and the need to increase recycling.
“This will allow us to build a diverse and sustainable waste management industry that delivers long-term value to our environment, new jobs for our communities and confidence to invest in Queensland,” she said.
“It is estimated that 2.8 jobs are supported for every 10,000 tonnes of waste that goes to landfill. But if that same waste was recycled, that would support 9.2 jobs,” Ms Enoch said.
“Queensland underperforms in waste recovery and we need to change that.
“Currently, Queensland produces approximately 5.5 million tonnes of waste that ends up in landfill. In 2016-17, nearly 1 million of that was interstate waste.”
A Queensland Treasury Corporation report into economic opportunities for Queensland’s waste industry; the Recycling and Waste in Queensland 2017 report; and a draft terms of reference for a Stakeholder Advisory Group will also be released today.
