Townsville City Council’s bid to scrutinise landfill targets it cannot meet

A Townsville City Council bid to scrutinise the waste levy will be surveyed by the affected Queensland councils, following concerns about contradictory landfill reduction targets that could punish the ratepayer by $7.5m.

Landfill being kept at Townsville. The council is looking at how it can be expected to meet landfill diversion targets without its ratepayers being financially punished for not meeting them.

Townsville City councillors fear they are being set up to fail with contradictory state and federal governments’ landfill diversion targets, which will punish ratepayers by up to $7.5m each year if they cannot be met.

Councillors Kurt Rehbein and Liam Mooney had planned to introduce a “common sense” motion to examine the flaws of the waste levy at the Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference in Brisbane on Wednesday in hopes of pushing back targets.

Cr Rehbein said councils needed more time to meet these ambitious targets, given there were three different reports, each one contradicting the others.

But following a meeting with the LGAQ’s policy executive on Sunday about the issue, Mr Rehbein said that instead of a motion, the organisation would complete a survey of all the 77 councils that would be impacted by the waste levy.

Councillor Kurt Rehbein at the Townsville City Council general meeting. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Mr Rehbein said this “was bloody great” because it would achieve what the motion set out to do anyway and allow for proper consultation.

He said the council had the infrastructure in place to meet the targets but needed clarity around the targets they would have to hit.

“We’re certainly invested in doing it, we just don’t want to be asked to meet targets that have been proven to be unachievable by the people who have set the targets,” Mr Rehbein said.

“So if the targets are set and then they do a body of work with you to say they’re not, you’re not going to be able to get them.”

In July the council’s general manager of resource recovery, Amani Kowero, said the contradicting documents were the Queensland Government’s Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy, the Queensland Landfill Waste Levy, and the Queensland Regulatory Frameworks.

“Without clear direction on expectations for diversion of waste from landfill and the subsequent introduction of additional services, council may have to pass through the financial impact of the increasing waste levy and decreasing advanced payment to residents and ratepayers,” Mr Kowero said.

“For (the) financial year 2025, this impact is estimated at approximately $2m, increasing to $7.5m per annum in financial year 2031.”

Meanwhile the closure of Townsville’s tip shops was of huge concern for the community, and has prompted a petition to be tabled in the last council meeting seeking for the reopening of the Hervey Range Rd tip shop.

It is understood the shop was closed because nobody had been able to replace the previous manager, but the council is now determining whether it can be reopened

Mr Rehbein said the tip shop was “much loved” and great for recycling, but that there were personal and sad reasons why it closed.

“From my view, there’s a need and a desire that the community wants it back open, because it was a well run and a great tip shop.”

But council staff said the tip shop diverted less than one per cent of landfill, which would have little impact on the landfill targets.

A picture of the Hervey Range Rd Tip Shop, closed indefinitely, which is shown in the Townsville City Council's virtual tour of the site.

The Federal Government seeks to halve organic waste by 2030, while the state government sought 55 per cent landfill diversion by next year.

While the council believed the way to achieve that was to divert organics, PFAS legislative requirements limited the types of waste that councils could divert.

The council was at about 30 per cent reduction, which was far off from landfill diversion targets.

Five councillors will be attending the conference, with Mr Rehbein and Mr Mooney both having voting power, while deputy mayor Paul Jacob, and councillors Vera Dirou and Ann-Maree Greaney would attend as observers.

Originally published as Townsville City Council’s bid to scrutinise landfill targets it cannot meet