Council Mayor Pat Bourke received the unanimous backing of fellow councillors for Federation Council to support Local Government NSW in its advocacy to call upon the NSW Government to reinvest the whole 100% of the levy, rather than just 10% such as 2017/18.
“Save our Recycling NSW’s local government sector has launched a campaign to solve a worsening recycling and waste crisis – at no extra cost to taxpayers,” he said at council’s monthly meeting on July 16.
“It calls on the State Government to re-invest the entire $727 million it collects from the waste levy each year in waste management and recycling. It is critical that NSW develops its on-shore processing capacity for recycled materials, rather than shipping waste to countries such as China.”
The Save Our Recycling Campaign, was launched at the Local Government annual conference in Albury in October 2018. The Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) requires certain licensed waste facilities in NSW to pay a contribution to the NSW Government for each tonne of waste received at the facility.
Referred to as the ‘waste levy’, the contribution aims to reduce the amount of waste being landfilled and promote recycling and resource recovery.
The waste levy applies in the regulated area of NSW which comprises the Sydney metropolitan area, the Illawarra and Hunter regions, the central and north coast local government areas to the Queensland border as well as the Blue Mountains, Wingecarribee and Wollondilly local government areas.
“The State Government is committing $801 million over eight years (2013-2021) to waste and recycling, however the waste levy collected over that same period will be over $4.62 billion,” Mayor Bourke said.
“Regardless of how you look at it, the principle remains the same – very little of the waste levy is currently used to support waste minimisation, recycling and resource recovery. The remainder is returned to NSW Government’s consolidated revenue.
“The reinvestment of the waste levy to support waste and resource recovery infrastructure, develop markets and innovative solutions, and undertake other initiatives to encourage reuse and recycling also offers wide-ranging benefits to our communities right across NSW.
“There is the potential for economic growth, new infrastructure, new technology and new jobs, particularly in our regional areas. “
The move by Mayor Bourke was unanimously endorsed at the Local Government NSW 2018 Conference.
Cr Bronwyn Thomas, who attended the Local Government Conference in Albury, said she was very proud to have watched the video link https.//saveourrecycling.com.au/
Cr Thomas encouraged councillors to click onto the link and become part of the recycling campaign. “The more we get the more committed we are,” she said. Cr Norm Wales agreed to click on straight away, saying recycling was very important.
C Paul Miegel said having recently visited overseas, Australia is obviously a long way behind other countries regarding recycling. “Whilst we are blessed with open space, we are behind with technology,” he said.
Council resolved to make representation to the local State Member Justin Clancy, Member for Albury, in support of the campaign objective, as well as to the Premier, the Hon Gladys Berejiklian MP, Minister for Local Government, the Hon Shelley Hancock MP, Minister for Energy and Environment, the Hon Matt Kean MP, Treasurer, seeking support for the 100% reinvestment of the Waste Levy collected each year into waste minimisation, recycling and resource recovery.
Council will take a lead role in activating the Local Government NSW Save Our Recycling campaign locally; endorse the distribution and display of the Local Government NSW Save Our Recycling information on Council premises and formally advise Local Government NSW that Council has endorsed the Save Our Recycling advocacy initiative.
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