Are you a waste disposal site?
The waste levy framework applies to waste disposed of at relevant waste disposal sites.
A waste disposal site is a waste facility to which both of the following apply:
(a) the operator of the facility is required to hold an environmental authority for the disposal of waste at the facility (i.e. ERA60 under the EP Act);
(b) waste delivered to the facility sometimes includes waste that is subsequently disposed of to landfill at the facility.
A waste facility is a facility for the recycling, reprocessing, treatment, storage, incineration, conversion to energy, sorting, consolidation or disposal (including by disposal to landfill) of waste.
If a site meets these definitions, the waste levy obligations (such as remitting levy, installing weighbridges and reporting to the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation) apply.
Note, mechanisms introduced into the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (the Act) and the Waste Reduction and Recycling Regulation 2023 (the regulation) provide for conditions where waste disposal sites or waste facilities are exempt from the waste levy framework.
Definition of waste facility
The dictionary of the Act details where a waste disposal site is not considered a waste facility and hence not subject to waste levy obligations.
Broadly, these are:
- where a facility operates for the purpose of disposing of waste generated by an environmentally relevant authority (ERA) if authorised under the same Environmental Authority
- multiple resource activities use a common waste disposal facility
- the waste resulting from processing a material at a separate site is disposed of at the resource activity site from which the material originates, or
- a waste disposal facility accepts waste generated from historic activities at that same site.
These exemptions are based on a number of conditions that ensure the activity is appropriately licensed under the Environmental Protection Act 1994, the facility is appropriately operated, and the facility does not dispose of waste not generated by or ancillary to the operation of the activity.
Definition of a waste disposal site
The definition of waste disposal site in section 8A of the Act provides that a waste facility is not a waste disposal site because a type of exempt waste prescribed by regulation for this definition is disposed of to landfill at the facility. Section 7 of the regulation prescribes that these are: fly ash from power stations (until 30 June 2029), waste water (that meets irrigation and livestock water quality criteria) and alum sludge and other residuals from the treatment of drinking water (until 30 June 2024). If the only thing that would trigger a facility to meet the definition of waste disposal site is the disposal of one of these exempt wastes, it is exempt from the definition of waste disposal site and therefore waste levy obligations.
To discuss further information on individual site situations, such as to determine if the levy applies to your site, please email wastelevyapps@des.qld.gov.au