If you know how much it will be and when it will increase.
With South Australia's announcement that they would be increasing their waste levy by 40% from $100 to $140 per tonne, waste and recycling industry associations such as WMRR (Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association) have concerns about short notice periods and lack of consultation as well as the unusually high magnitude of the change.
The increase is due for January 1, 2020, in the middle of the financial year. This is difficult for South Australian Council’s and waste service providers’ budgeting and planning, leaving them in a quandary as to how they pass on the additional cost to their customers.
Let us look at the waste levies per tonne in other Australian states and territories in the table below:
Table – Waste levies around Australia
The levies to be applied in South Australia equate to approximately $25 million per year from waste flows. In Daily reports that, "most revenue (is) used to fund environmental regulation and works, including coastal remediation and sand replenishment. Just 10% or $2.5 million per year for 4 years has been set aside for diversion of waste from landfill.
One could argue that the levy is still lower than NSW (by just 2.5%) but in Adelaide the cost of living is 16.87% lower than Sydney according to Numbeo. And in Sydney the percentage of levy funds directed back to the waste and recycling industry is 18% not the 10% budgeted for the next 4 years in South Australia.
What is the impact of surprising the waste and recycling industry and Councils with a significant increase? The main loss is that waste service providers, either collectors or landfills or otherwise, have no time to prepare and so they cannot do as the levy intends which is react to a pricing mechanism that rewards diversion from landfill. The Government reap the benefits of the windfall as the industry players and Councils catch up.
It is undoubtedly more beneficial for our environment for levy increases to be adequately forewarned so that maximum diversion is achieved from the pricing incentives.
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