ASBG Articles

ASBG was interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald a few weeks ago about the impact of waste levies on interstate boarders.  Andrew Doig was quoted: 

Others argue this ''perverse incentive'' to travel north could be felt as far south as Sydney when NSW's metropolitan levy rises to more than $95 a tonne next month.

Australian Sustainable Business Group's national director, Andrew Doig, said at this point gate fees would begin to outweigh the transport cost of trucking waste north ''and NSW would lose not only the waste levy but it would also lose the GST associated with it''

Attachments:

SMH - No Qld Levy - 12 June 2012

Attached is the response from Queensland's Department of Environment and Heritage Protection on ASBG request for clarification of the Government's policy on their waste levy.  It appears from the letter that Queensland's levy will be scrapped, bu they will be monitoring the transport of wastes and their origins.

Attachments:

QLD Waste Levy Position Letter 2012

ASBG has undertaken a comparison of Queensland's new hazardous waste classification limits and compared them to NSW and Victorian limits.  Queensland's recent Waste Reduction and Recycling Regulation 2011 introduced these new limits to set its $50/t and $150/t waste levies for low and high hazardous wastes.  This is somewhat different to NSW and Victorian classifications which also set landfill acceptance limits.  Queensland's landfill acceptance limits are licence specific and vary from each landfill.

In brief the Queensland limits average about 5 times tighter than those used in NSW and Victoria.  Other states use even less stringent criteria, easily making Queensland Australia's tightest hazardous waste classification system.

Please click on the below link to download the full pdf file in this comparison document.

Attachments:

ASBG's Comparison of QLD vs NSW & Vic haz waste classifications

A draft technical note on Landfarming to prevent offences are not committed under the POEO Act, especially s120, 128(2) and s142A.  ASBG is concerned about the notes' position on air emissions are too restrictive.

Attachments:

Lanfarming Technical Notes Draft