In recent years there has been five big changes for waste management for South-East Queensland (SEQ) Councils. These five changes are:
- Other countries have imposed limitations on accepting low grade or contaminated recyclable materials.
- The Queensland government introduced its Waste Management and Resource Recovery Strategy, setting new targets for reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfills.
- The Queensland government started charging landfill levies.
- A container refund scheme was launched for certain glass and plastic containers.
- The Commonwealth passed laws banning some types of waste exports.
To respond to these changes, eleven SEQ Councils worked together to develop the SEQ Waste Management Plan (the Plan). The Plan outlines a goal to achieve a target state by 2030, looking ahead to 2050. As we work towards the 2030 goal, Councils are expected to work together on some projects and independently on others.
The Plan identifies that we'll need more capacity to process the growing amount of yellow-lid recyclable materials in SEQ. To handle this, it suggests that Councils in sub-regions work together to combine their recycling volumes to build 1 to 2 new medium-large scale Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) by 2030. It also recommended participating Councils owning a share in these facilities to cut down on costs and make recycling more affordable for ratepayers.
Aligned with the recommendations in the Plan, Logan City Council, Ipswich City Council, and Redland City Council (the Councils) conducted an extensive procurement process and investigated creating a beneficial enterprise responsible for designing, building and operating a new MRF. The purpose of the MRF is to receive, sort, and process the materials from yellow-lid recycling bins.
In October 2023, each of the Councils resolved to establish the beneficial enterprise named Greenovate Pty Ltd. Subject to grant funding from the State and Federal Governments, Greenovate Pty Ltd plan to complete and sign a contract for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
For more information and project updates, see Greenovate Material Recovery Facility.
