Waste Management

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:03): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation a question about unspent waste levy funds.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: An Advertiser article by Lauren Novak on Monday of this week, entitled Unspent Levy Wastes Away, claimed:

More than $65 million collected from a levy on waste disposal is sitting in government coffers prompting calls for authorities to fast track projects and spark job creation.

Those calls come from peak bodies, such as the Local Government Association, the Waste Management Association and the Conservation Council, who are estimating that the money could be used to generate up to 4,000 jobs over the next decade rather than be consumed by Treasury in general revenue.

The state government's own state Waste Strategy 2015-20 talks about using the fund to build more waste collection, sorting and weighing infrastructure, providing more drop-off facilities for households, developing new waste technologies, increasing food waste collection and helping business to develop a market for recycled products. However, Mid Murray Mayor and President of the LGA, Mr Dave Burgess, is quoted in the article:

The Waste Strategy talks about $200 million to $350 million of investment opportunities over 10 to 15 years, yet we can't get a cent out of the state to fund a project…imagine what more we could achieve if the government actually spent the money where it is supposed to be spent.

My questions are:

1. Why has the government allowed $65 million to build up in the fund and rejected any attempt by local government to access funding for projects in line with the government's own Waste Strategy?

2. Will the minister commit to spending the $65 million that is sitting idle in the fund on projects that will generate employment now in line with the calls from the LGA and industry bodies?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (15:06): I thank the Hon. John Dawkins for his excellent question. It's great to have a question on the subject from such a reasonable member who understands the area very well and actually can join in a discussion on these issues, as he does. I thank him for that. I think it is very important that we have reasoned questions and answers and discussions in this place, rather than hysterical ones based on not science but fictional stories instead and listening to senators over there who really haven't got a clue what they are talking about.

The state government recognises that growth in the $1 billion waste and resource recovery sector—that's $1 billion worth of growth of industrial activity in this state—requires working very closely with industry, especially if we are to achieve our goal of increasing the number of jobs in the sector beyond the current figure, which is approximately 5,000, or slightly under 5,000 at the moment.

In March of last year I convened a Waste Summit attended by the state's leading industry figures. This summit led to a consultation paper that was released in the second half of last year. The thrust of the paper was asking industry and the community what, if any, regulatory changes are going to be required by industry to drive further growth in this very important industry.

The industry and the community actively engaged throughout this consultation process. I certainly understand from reports that I saw in the media that there have been calls from the waste and resource recovery sector for an increase in the waste levy, and these media reports cited industry modelling that indicated that if the waste levy was to be increased to the levels in New South Wales, for example, it could generate almost 600 jobs in the state, ongoing full-time jobs. That's important, but we need to understand that, if that's to be the case, what are the trade-offs, who will benefit and what communities will be participating in that process? Of course, local government would be a very important part of that. They are a key part of this process.

We have as a state established ourselves as a leader in the waste management and resource recovery sector—

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Certainly in waste.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: This government's waste policies and strategies and programs—well, the Liberals over there are snivelling about waste. They don't understand what an important part of our industrial sector it is in this state and how many South Australians are employed by the waste sector. They don't care about that. They want to make cheap remarks across the chamber, unlike the Hon. Mr Dawkins, who has a deeper understanding and appreciation of this very important policy area.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Tell me about the $65 million.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: All in good time, Mr Dawkins. This government's waste policies and strategies and programs over the past decade have driven major positive changes in the way that waste is managed in this state. We have a recycling rate among the world's best and the industry contributes more, as I said—well, it's worth $1 billion but it contributes about $500 million to gross state product and sustains about 5,000 full-time jobs, or just under that.

Our iconic container deposit legislation continues to result in a container return rate of around 80 per cent. In fact, I understand that New South Wales is currently having a debate about how to actually emulate South Australia and it is the Northern Territory's and, indeed, the ACT's intention, to introduce their own container deposit legislation over there in the east. In 2014-15 alone, about 583 million containers, representing about 43,000 tonnes, were returned for recycling and potentially diverted from landfill. In addition, the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy bans certain waste, such as whitegoods and e-waste, from being disposed of directly into landfill, resulting in the recycling of valuable finite resources.

As I said, I convened that waste summit last year and we talked about government, industry, local government and the community sectors and how we can improve and drive that industry to further heights. Feedback has indicated that they want us to address things such as static and growing stockpiles; waste that has a potential to pose environmental risk; potential re-usable fill materials ending up at landfills due to development pressures; difficulties dealing with certain problematic waste; and, of course, the perennial illegal dumping.

The state government and industry together see opportunities for growth in the sector and more competition in the marketplace. Opportunities also exist to respond to increasing interest and energy from waste schemes and further development of safe resource recovery activity. All these things cost money and in all these things, industry seeks some government involvement and that is where the levy fund comes in. It is very important that the state's regulatory framework is adaptive and in a position to manage the next phase of growth in the industry.

I released a discussion paper in August of last year on reforming the waste management sector in our state and asking for feedback about the current state of the industry and reform options to expand that sector and create more jobs for South Australians. The discussion paper entitled 'Reforming waste management—creating certainty for industry to grow' looks at opportunities to achieve a better and more equitable industry while reducing environmental risk and harm in a cost-effective way and further promotes safe resource recovery through innovative change ideas. The paper outlines the aim to create certainty for industry, address current challenges, unlock growth opportunities in the waste and resources recovery sector and ensure that the more unscrupulous operators of the sector—and I am sure there are only a very few of them—do not undermine the viability and innovation of the majority.

Some of the reform options that we're looking at include mass balance reporting and up-front levy liability; better managing waste soils and fill; improving stockpiling controls and site monitoring; recovering illegally obtained economic benefit arising from contraventions of the act; more effective tools to combat illegal dumping; innovative change ideas such as banning microplastics and polystyrene packing; 'save as you throw' waste pricing; and mandatory food waste recycling in the Adelaide CBD. These were all initiatives that were raised with us by the community and the industry and these are things we will be doing some further work on.

It is important that we understand how to move forward to create these jobs in this increased growth industry and that it is done in a cost-effective way and doesn't add negative impost on the community or industry without having that big return in either job creation or some other benefit for the community. It is anticipated that improved regulatory certainty and a more level playing field from these reforms will promote innovation and underpin investment.

My understanding—and this is from memory; I don't have this in the notes in front of me—is that, from the waste levy resources fund, we've allocated about $89 million since its inception. That was to co-invest with local governments and industry in infrastructure development to further drive growth in this sector. That fund is vitally important, but we don't just release those funds on the say-so of local government or the LGA. There must be a solid business case presented, that business case must stand up to scrutiny and it must also meet the requirements of the sector, which are to drive growth and drive job creation for South Australians.