Thirty-four Queensland councils will benefit from grants ranging from $6,000 to $570,000 to get infrastructure at waste disposal sites all over the state ready for the introduction of the waste levy on 1 July 2019.
Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said grants will fund activities including upgrading IT, installing or upgrading fencing, security cameras, signage, weighbridges and other infrastructure required for efficient, accurate and secure levy collection at council landfill facilities.
"The Palaszczuk Government has committed to making sure there is no extra cost for Queenslanders putting their wheelie bin each week from the introduction of the waste levy.
"That commitment includes providing annual advance payments to councils of 105 percent of the cost of municipal solid waste disposal.
"The new waste levy will also lead to the creation of jobs, local waste management and resource recovery solutions, and market development, particularly in regional areas.
"Reintroducing a waste disposal levy is part of our broader strategy to improve waste recycling and recovery and support jobs growth.
"This will provide a growing incentive for the community and business to take advantage of expanding resource recovery and recycling options across the state.
"The levy will also bring Queensland in line with other states who already have levies—helping to discourage the current, and growing, trend of interstate dumping into Queensland," she said.
Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Greg Hallam welcomed the levy-ready grant program, saying it was in the interests of both the Government and councils that the right infrastructure was in place to support the waste levy.
"This gives councils room to come up with innovative solutions, wise investment and big picture thinking," he said.
"Those qualities are what local governments need to apply every day if they are to represent their communities as best they can."
