Industry Updates for Queensland's Waste Management and Resource Recovery Sector

Reforms to ERA62 to increase ULAB recovery Opportunities

Please note changes this week to the storage threshold for Used Lead Acid Batteries (ULABs) in Queensland. These changes increase the amount that can be stored at any one time, without an environmental authority, from 4t (previous) to not more than 45t or 3000 intact or partly disassembled batteries. These changes came into on the date the regulation was made (24 June 2022 and Clause 4, page 3 contains the relevant section). ?Please also note that the 28 days storage under section (d) does not apply as the amendments are not time-bound but are linked to quantity.

Reforms to Privacy and Right to Information Legislation

Submissions are now open on a range of proposed reforms to the state’s information privacy and right to information legislation. The accompanying consultation paper released on 24 June seeks views from a wide range of individuals, interest groups, government agencies, statutory bodies, and the legal sector. The proposed reforms reflect a number of recommendations already made by the Crime and Corruption Commission in its Operation Impala Report including:

• whether the Information Commissioner should have enhanced powers to investigate privacy breaches;
• whether Queensland should have a mandatory data breach notification scheme; and
• whether Queensland should adopt a single set of privacy principles that are more aligned with those in the Commonwealth Privacy Act.

Proposed reforms to the RTI Act would streamline and modernise its provisions, including by:

• introducing a single right of access to information, making applying for documents and processing applications a simpler process;
• removing the requirement to apply on the prescribed form; and
• making it easier for evidence of identity documents to be certified.

Submissions on the Consultation Paper close on 22 July and can be made at Privacyand[email protected]?

Waste Plastics Export Regulation Phase 2 – Processing Requirements

The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment have now published the Report by MRA Consulting on the Processing Requirements for Phase 2 of the Waste Plastics Export Ban. In preparation for Phase 2 of the waste plastics export regulation, the Department engaged MRA Consulting Group to provide a report to support:

• implementation of Phase 2 of the waste export regulation for plastic; and
• determine the level of processing required for waste plastic to no longer be considered a waste under the Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989 (HW Act).

This report provides general guidance for licence applicants and assessment officers. See

https://www.awe.gov.au/environment/protection/waste/publications/waste-plastics-export-regulation-phase-2-processing-requirements

?More Funding to Stop Illegal Dumping

The Queensland government has announced a further $2 million to stop illegal dumping with the latest round of its Local Government Illegal Dumping Partnerships Program. Applications are now open for round 2B of the program till Thursday, 7 July 2022. [Announcement | Grants page]

Upcoming Webinar, Parametric Solutions – Protecting your Organization from Extreme Events

Please see details for the upcoming WTW webinar ‘Parametric solutions: protecting your business from extreme events’. ?WTW experts presented to WRIQ Members on our industry risks in April 2022.

Featuring experts from their global Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions team, this webinar will explore what parametric insurance solutions are and how they can help organisations in the face of increasingly extreme natural catastrophes such as flood, cyclones, bushfires, earthquakes and more. The experts will discuss applicability across a wide range of industries and explain the benefits of parametric solutions when compared to cover under traditional insurance.?I hope that you will join the webinar to understand how parametric solutions could be of value to your organisation. The webinar is on Tuesday 12 July at 4:00pm AEST. To register, go to https://events.wtwco.com/d/ckqc7v/

LAWMAC’s New Look Webpage

The Local Authority Waste Management Advisory Committee’s (LAWMAC) new website has now gone live at www.lawmac.org.au. Please download their latest newsletter featuring WRIQ’s article on metal theft.

The Women for Environment Breakfast by Bush Heritage

Bush Heritage Australia invites you to join them in Brisbane this August for a thought-provoking networking breakfast, featuring?inspiring female leaders providing their perspectives on achieving economic?and environmental health for a nature positive future.

Across the world, businesses and governments are responding rapidly. Those?that integrate sustainability, natural capital goals and?complex climate issues into their decision-making are trailblazers in demonstrating that financial return?occurs in conjunction with protecting biodiversity and the natural world.

Date: Friday 5 August, at 7.30am - 9.45am at Rydges South Bank,?9 Glenelg Street, South Brisbane. Tickets: $68?per person or $630 table of ten, please register here