Upcoming changes to Toowoomba Regional Council's (TRC) Trade Waste Management Plan will result in positive outcomes for almost 450 Toowoomba Region businesses.
TRC Water Operations portfolio spokesperson Councillor Kerry Shine said the changes were designed to reduce costs for low-risk businesses with current or future trade waste approvals.
"Generally, any liquid waste generated from business, trade or manufacturing processes, other than domestic sewage, is defined as trade waste.
"Council currently has around 2,000 businesses with trade waste approvals.
"Council's Trade Waste Management Plan has five categories with varying levels of impact and compliance required depending on the type of business," Cr Shine said.
"What Council has recently done is to look at those low-risk, category one businesses putting trade waste into the system and reduce the level of compliance and therefore cost to these businesses.
"So a business like a hairdresser, dental or medical surgery, will no longer have to install a discharge meter and therefore won't be charged excess usage charges. These businesses will now only have a single fixed charge.
"We have around 450 category one businesses so this will have a great positive impact in reducing their running costs.
"This is a great outcome for these existing businesses and will also help to reduce the cost of setting up a new business in this trade waste category in the Toowoomba region," he said.
The changes will come into effect on July 1, 2025.
