Waste woes for wallet

New state rubbish levy could be passed on to ratepayers

RATES could soon rise if the Toowoomba Regional Council passes on the Queensland Government’s waste levy to ratepayers.

The council’s waste spokeswoman Nancy Sommerfield said her biggest concern was there was not enough funding coming into the council to cover the costs of the levy.

The government’s waste levy proposal is before a parliamentary committee for consideration, which will issue recommendations before the bill is sent to the Legislative Assembly to be voted on.

“The important thing is the new waste levy includes domestic waste,” Cr Sommerfield said.

“The old one was commercial waste only and was set at $35 a tonne. This one is commercial and domestic waste and is $70 a tonne.”

Cr Sommerfield was echoing comments made by Local Government Association Queensland chief executive Greg Hallam to a parliamentary committee last week. She is also the chair of the LGAQ waste advisory group.

“It’s the inclusion of domestic waste that’s causing us the most concern,” she said.

“That includes domestic waste picked up in wheelie bin.

“The other thing they are expecting councils to cover off on is all of the waste in parks. Council has to pay that $70 a tonne for that waste. These costs have to be passed on. It has to come from somewhere.”

Cr Sommerfield said if the State Government would not provide funding to cover the costs, the costs could ultimately be passed on to ratepayers.

“The upside for us is there is opportunity to develop industries for waste in our region,” she said.

“The key message also is the more we recycle the less levy we pay, as we only pay the levy on what’s going to landfill.

“The key thing is to recycle as efficiently as possible.”

As recently as June, the government said households would face no extra costs because of the levy.