National Waste Policy Regulatory Impact Statement

Lack of coordination

Many stakeholders suggested that a lack of coordination in waste management policy is hindering the market for waste in Australia. As the Australian Council of Recyclers and the Boomerang Alliance (2009) state:

To date there has been a fragmented response to waste policy issues by Australian governments, and differing levels of service delivery amongst almost 700 local government authorities, varying targets and regulation amongst states and territories and no current national coordinating strategy... This lack of coordination directly undermines opportunities to maximise resource recovery and improve the resource efficiency of Australian society as a whole. A new approach is needed to consolidate gains made to date and to further accelerate progress in resource recovery and resource efficiency.

Greater coordination – on a national basis – is thus seen as necessary to ensure that the waste management industry can reach its potential. As the Waste Management Association of Australia (2009) notes, ‘creating demand and sustaining markets for recycled products and materials can only be done efficiently and consistently at the national level.’ Similarly, the Alex Fraser Group (2009) contends that construction and demolition waste ‘is a major – yet mostly unnecessary – contributor to landfill activity’ due to the absence of national waste segregation standards.

The lack of regulatory guidance of proper segregation of waste on site at the time of demolition allows developers to demand the wholesale building demolition that reduces or in some ways eliminates the ability to recover successfully easily recoverable waste streams and ensures that the waste materials are consigned to either legal or illegal landfill sites.

Lack of coordinated policy response

In the absence of national agreement, state and local governments are developing their own responses to resource recovery and waste management issues, leading to a degree of fragmentation across state and territory policy settings for waste (see Table 2.3). While national co-ordination is not always necessary, in some cases a national response is more appropriate in meeting community objectives. Industry submissions highlight the potential for ongoing and increased costs from continuing and increasing fragmentation in policies, with particular emphasis on problems of lack of co-ordination on product stewardship.

2. 
   
   

waste management and resource recovery measures in australia

	Landfill levy	Banned from landfill	Product stewardship	Waste and recycling targets	Waste management strategy	Residential hazardous waste collection
ACT	Yes	Computers	No	Yes	Yes	No
NT	No	No	Beverage containers planned	Yes	Under development	No
NSW	Yes	No (some local bans)	Legislation allows for Extended Producer Responsibility	Yes	Yes	Yes
QLD	No	Limits on the number of new landfills	No	Under consideration	Under development	No
SA	Yes	Considering a ban on range of materials to landfill (some local bans)	Beverage containers	Yes	Yes	Yes
TAS	No	Tyres and untreated clinical waste; waste approval required from 30 June 2009	No	Considering waste reduction goals and targets	Under development	No
VIC	Yes	Automotive tyres, whole batteries, inter alia	Batteries, computers and paint	Yes	Yes	Yes
WA	Yes	No	Legislation allows for Extended Producer Responsibility	Yes	Yes	Yes

Source: Adapted from DEWHA, 2009a, p. 14.