The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) is urging farmers and rural communities to be ready for a new landfill tax commencing in early 2019, following the introduction of new legislation into State Parliament today.
The Waste Levy will begin on 4 March 2019 and will be set at $70 per tonne for general waste escalating up to $150 per tonne for Category 1 regulated wastes sent to landfill. It will include 38 local government areas and cover 90% of Queensland’s population.
QFF President Stuart Armitage said the agricultural sector was continuing to demonstrate stewardship of the resources it uses and maximise recycling opportunities across the industry, but farmers need to consider how the levy will impact their business when it is introduced.
“QFF has been working with farmers and rural communities to recognise the importance of farm sustainability and to grow and develop the resource recovery sector in Queensland,” Mr Armitage said.
“Since March this year, over 25,000 litres of used oil from farmers in south west Queensland has been collected to be re-refined into new product, while around 2,000 tonnes of polypropylene woven bags and almost 1,500 tonnes of rigid plastics and trickle tape have been collected from farms and recycled in the last financial year.”
“The agricultural sector is moving towards adopting a circular economy and striving to find innovative and practical solutions for the management of farm waste.”
“Every 10,000 tonnes of waste disposed into landfill supports 2.8 full time jobs, whereas if the same 10,000 tonnes of waste were recycled, 9.2 jobs would be supported.”
“Greater resource recovery and recycling will attract business investment and creating regional jobs by securing the feedstock these industries need. There is also great potential for farmers to maximise value from byproducts.”
QFF extends its gratitude to its recycling partners, and also to the participating councils who are providing free of charge drop-off points for end of life agricultural packaging and product, which is necessary for consolidating the required volumes.
“It is important that the waste and recycling industry, local governments and agricultural industries continue to work together to remove barriers to the collection and recovery of recyclable materials and develop cost effective and environmentally-efficient processes for material capture and recovery in the future.”
For more information about on-farm recycling and waste recovery opportunities, visit: https://www.qff.org.au/advocacy/recycling-and-materials-recovery-opportunities/.