REDLAND City Council has assured ratepayers that the city takes no waste from NSW.
A council spokesman said council had a waste disposal agreement with Brisbane City Council which saw all of Redlands’ 58,000 tonnes per annum general waste go to land fill.
The old Birkdale tip effectively closed in 2011 although it still operated as a waste transfer and recycling station.
”Additionally, council’s waste transfer station infrastructure is not capable of receiving large scale waste loads of the size being commercially transferred from NSW, with all commercial waste, except green waste, required to be hand unloaded at council’s transfer stations,” he said.
“Around 7 per cent of our kerbside recycling (yellow top recycling bin) is contaminated with non-recyclable material such as food, garden waste, soft plastics, nappies and textiles.
“This contamination is separated and disposed of in landfill, while the rest is recycled.”
The dumping of NSW waste in Queensland has sky rocketed since the former Newman government abandoned an environment levy on commercial dumping on the basis that it was getting rid of red and green tape.
The move backfired because it allowed companies to avoid heavy NSW dumping fees, making it financially viable to truck waste to Queensland.
Premier Annastacia Palazczuk said a crack down would start on waste transport activities but has said she would not reintroduce the levy in this term of government.
She raised the issue with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian who has been less than sympathetic with Queensland, telling Ms Palaszczuk to raise the issue at COAG talks.
Queensland Greens Maiwar candidate Michael Berkman said his party would back the introduction of a $78.20 per tonne waste levy in order to end the rorting and raise more than $500 million a year.
“Last year, the Queensland government reported 6.6 million tonnes in commercial, construction and demolition waste. If we had a waste levy in place, the state would have been $525,360,000 better off.
“If the LNP hadn’t gotten rid of the waste levy in 2012 and the current Labor government hadn’t been so scared of putting its political donors offside, we’d be collecting hundreds of millions of dollars per year.”
Mr Berkman was referring to waste companies JJ Richards, Suez, WRIQ, Evergreen Waste Solutions and Lockyer Valley Waste Management being political donors, primarily to the LNP.
JJ Richards also donated $10,000 to Redland mayor Karen Williams’ last election campaign and is also contracted to Redland City Council.
