Encourage market development through government and industry partnerships to accelerate and extend the implementation of the National Waste Policy’s data actions and bring national consistency to the household waste collection and landfill levy system.
- Digital Australia
- No regrets
Key messages
Successful policy and regulatory decision-making, community and industry behaviour change and private-sector participation and investment all rely on meaningful, transparent data.
Waste and recycling data collection is currently insufficient and inconsistent because it is delivered through a variety of legislative and regulatory initiatives — both voluntary and mandatory.
A comprehensive and coordinated national waste data strategy is needed to outline the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.
Interstate inconsistencies in landfill levies are causing negative waste disposal behaviours instead of supporting resource recovery and environmental protection. Landfill levies are a powerful regulatory tool that can divert more waste away from landfill by shaping community and commercial behaviours.
What are the impacts?
Consistent and reliable data will support stronger governance policy and regulatory decision-making around waste and recycling infrastructure and reform, more accurate assessments of compliance and more efficient monitoring and management of a range of social, economic and environmental impacts.
Harmonising data standards would enable waste data to be more quickly and accurately collected and released to consumers, industry, regulators and government. This improves governance and coordination, to enable sector growth and industry efficiency.
A clearer understanding of volume and flows of materials through the system will provide better problem identification and support investment in quality waste infrastructure. It will result in more informed end markets, identify the areas in need of research and development and support accessible, targeted waste collection and processing services.
How easy is it to implement?
There are existing waste data collection and storage methodologies in each jurisdiction, but a national approach will be complex to implement. The Australian Government has only recently become involved in waste policy and there are significant inconsistencies in approach between states and territories and at a local government level that will need to be harmonised.
Industry lacks the knowledge, capacity and data to make informed decisions. However, recent joint initiatives such as the response to the national waste export ban show coordination is achievable in the long-term.
The introduction of a consistent levy pricing strategy and protocols will similarly rely on cross-jurisdictional collaboration. New systems will increase cost in the short-term.
How certain are the outcomes?
Community accepts improving environmental management in principle. However, cost implications may raise some concern, and key concepts such as waste being a resource, Australia’s over-reliance on landfill and how data supports policy/investment decisions are not widely understood and could require active management.
This reform is heavily dependent on interjurisdictional collaboration and coordination, with no single government able to control all the outcomes.
Gaps in data availability are acknowledged by governments at all levels, including in the Australian Government’s National Waste Action Plan. This affects the level of confidence in decision-making, but can be overcome by implementing the reforms and equipping government to track sectoral performance and enable the private sector to make informed investment decisions.
| Governance |
National waste reporting
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| Affordability |
Waste Levy
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| Environment |
Minimum substitution rates
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Read more about this recommendation in 9.2 Waste data to drive innovation in the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan.
Reform implementation pathway
This recommendation comprises of outcomes and activities, which form the reform's implementation pathway.
The implementation pathway is designed to guide change agents on the supporting activities necessary to achieve the overall reform.
For each outcome and activity, we propose change agents to act as:
- Proposed sponsor: facilitate, coordinate and champion the recommendation
- Proposed lead: deliver specific activities or lead related outcomes
- Support: share ownership, contributions or knowledge to enable the reform process.
Support coordinated policy through an integrated whole-of-life waste data strategy for priority resources.
0-5 years
Enable nationally consistent reporting of waste data by developing a common approach to standards and definitions.
0-5 years
Improve decision-making and investor confidence by implementing an integrated data strategy that leverages agreed definitions.
0-5 years
Create a high-quality recycling system with lower processing costs by developing common benchmarks for each material stream, consolidating services and targeting infrastructure investment.
5-10 years
Support efficient resource recovery by prioritising investment in separation and processing infrastructure by material volumes.
5-10 years
Create clarity for consumers and industry by implementing common benchmarks between states and territories for the collection, transportation and sorting of each material stream.
0-5 years
Reduce contamination of material streams through correct disposal and improved source separation by standardising household bins for each material type within states and territories.
0-5 years
Reduce congestion, amenity and road safety impacts by consolidating services to minimise transport congestion impacts.
0-5 years
Increase landfill diversion by developing a waste levy pricing strategy and national levy protocols.
0-5 years
Address cross-border waste issues by developing national levy protocols that define which wastes should be levied, levy liabilities, levy administration and maximum transportation limits.
0-5 years
Increase resource recovery by introducing a national levy pricing strategy to minimise interstate levy differences.
0-5 years