The state of waste and recycling in Queensland 2006
Report summary
Queensland's economy produces a lot of waste. Using a combination of published data and information supplied by 134 local governments, 26 composters, 19 recyclers, 6 commercial landfills, 5 electricity generators, and 3 incinerator operators, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been able to track the generation of millions of tonnes of solid waste and waste emissions in 2005-06.
For example, the economy generated 2.4 million tonnes of commercial and industrial waste, 1.7 million tonnes of domestic waste and 1.4 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste. The process of generating electricity to power the economy resulted in the production of 4.4 million tonnes of fly ash. Collectively, green waste, biosolids, clean fill, contaminated and potential acid sulfate soils, and other regulated wastes made up a further 2 million tonnes of solid waste.
Across the economy, two-thirds of the solid waste was landfilled while one-third was diverted from landfill. Close to 90% of the biosolids and green waste were recycled, compared to about 40% of commercial and industrial waste, and about 30% of fly ash and construction and demolition waste. Relatively little of the regulated waste and a little over 20% of the concrete and clean fill were recycled.
Only 14% of the domestic waste tracked in this report was recycled. While this is a relatively low proportion, local governments are working to increase the amount of household recyclable material collected. They collected an average of 58 kg per capita in 2005-06, up from 47 kg per capita in 2003-04. In addition, a small but growing number of councils are providing kerbside green waste collection services.
Regionally, the recycling rates for most waste streams tended to be higher in the more densely populated and accessible parts of Queensland - effectively the coastal corridor running from the Gold Coast to Port Douglas. The geographical influence was strongest for wastes that need to be transported to the larger centres for recycling. Wastes that can be processed locally (such as biosolids and green waste) were far more likely to be recycled in small and remote councils than were glass or plastics.
All of the 159 million tonnes of waste emissions tracked in this report were released into the environment. Close to 2 million tonnes of those emissions were pollutants reported by the National Pollutant Inventory, with the remainder being greenhouse gases. The combustion of fossil fuels was the main source of both types of emissions.
Combining the domestic waste, green waste and biosolids reported by councils, as well as the fly ash and emissions that can be attributed to the domestic consumption of electricity, it can be conservatively estimated that Queensland households were directly responsible for the generation of 3.4 million tonnes of solid waste and 10.5 million tonnes of waste emissions. If the average person weighs 70 kg, then it could be said that Queenslanders generate three times their body weight in fly ash and five times their body weight in domestic waste per year.
Last updated: 08 October 2008