A Rubbish Tax

This weekend's fire at Canning Vale Waste Recovery plant illustrates well our successive State Governments' neglect of developments in waste processing. It also highlights the need for significant research and development, which we would expect to be paid from the huge new waste levy.

(Baled plastic bottles in Penang harbour- my photo)

From 1 July Councils in WA will pay a levy of $28 per ton of putrescible (rotting) waste going to landfill, up from $7 this year. Inert (stable) waste will go up from $5 to $12. While the tax on landfill is probably of some use, to discourage us from burying our rubbish, we really would have thought that the proceeds should go towards developing WA's waste management practices. Instead it will go towards general expenses of the Department of Environment and Conservation.

As it turns out with the fire, one of our biggest waste plants has been collecting recyclables with no idea of what to do with the tonnes collected. One hundred sea containers of waste are now cinders and sludge. It might make us feel good to put stuff in the yellow bin but we also expect that the materials perform the boomerang trick of being re- used.

Fortunately South Perth's waste is not part of this fiasco, our truckloads going to the Bayswater facility operated by Cleanaway. We will however be slugged with the Government's new levy, without any direct benefit. We also have little market for recyclables in the current downturn. Big thinking is needed here.

This shows once again that Local Government can be subjected to simple political forces unless we act as a strong lobby, thinking deeply about big questions. We need to address many substantial issues, including how to handle the mountains of waste that we produce. We can do this only if local authorities combine forces and look to the big picture.