Moving to a better waste industry

The Queensland Government has today (Monday, September 5) launched a new on-line service to assist with the day-to-day operations of the State’s waste industry.

Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles said the inclusion of the ability to track waste on-line followed calls from within the industry for a system to better track waste.

“Those involved in the industry particularly wanted an on-line service to assist in tracking regulated waste,” Dr Miles said.

“We’ve responded to these calls by including digital waste tracking in our new online Connect system.

“Following a substantial period of industry consultation, I am pleased to say we will be rolling out the waste component of the Connect system from today (5 September 2016).”

Dr Miles said the move to on-line waste tracking would make it more efficient for operators to lodge regulated waste transport data and track their operations in one easy-to-use online system.

“When compliance officers are auditing a facility that receives and stores regulated waste, it will be quicker and easier to search records to establish whether the authorised and recorded deliveries tally with the amount of material the regulator is seeing on-site,” Dr Miles said.

“That means that over time, the department is going to be able to redirect staff to more investigative and pro-active duties, where they will be able to pursue the operators who don’t lodge reports and don’t play by the rules.

“The more staff the department has tied up in recording the paperwork of the legal operators, the fewer people can be deployed finding the ones who are not meeting their obligations”.

Regulated waste is commercial or industrial waste that is listed in Queensland’s Environmental Protection Regulation 2008 (www.legislation.qld.gov.au/legisltn/current/e/envprotr08.pdf) and must be managed, transported and disposed of properly to prevent environmental harm or risks to community safety.

“Transporting waste unlawfully can result in human health and environmental impacts – undermining our waste management regulations,” Dr Miles said.

Dr Miles said EHP briefed industry peak association Waste, Recycling Industry Association (Queensland) WRIQ on the initiatives and associated changes to the Environmental Protection Regulation in July.

“EHP contacted its regulated waste industry customers to seek final feedback by early August on the Connect portal and proposed changes to the regulations,” he said.

“We have collated this feedback into a consultation report and provided this to industry and industry comments and feedback has been used to fine-tune our processes before they formally come into play on 5 September 2016.”

Dr Miles said the department is continuing to provide information to the waste industry through regular mail outs and wherever possible personally contacting waste operators to support the industry through this change.

“The new online system Connect and the changes to the waste tracking business provides industry with choices. Our customers are being provided information to help make the right choice for them. ”

The Palaszczuk Government invested an additional $1.9 million in the recent State Budget to improve waste management, and create jobs in recycling.

For further details on Connect and EHP’s regulated waste management see www.ehp.qld.gov.au/waste/guidelines-information.html.

ENDS

MEDIA 0412 393 909