Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald urges Qld government to use waste levy funding for new recyling facility in region

Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald has launched a broadside at the Qld government over how the money raised from its waste levy is spent, calling on the state to help fund a critical $25m asset.

Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald has slammed the state government over upcoming increases to Queensland’s controversial waste levy, urging the LNP to use the revenue from what he called a “bin tax” to invest in new regional recycling facilities.

The Toowoomba Regional Council is expected to pay $30m a year to the state to bury its landfill waste once the levy increases to $125 per tonne from July 1.

The tax, introduced by the Palaszczuk government in 2019 to help divert recyclable and green waste from landfill, has been a major impost to the TRC as it grapples with a tightening state budget.

This is partly due to Toowoomba needing to truck its recycled materials to Brisbane, neutralising most of the savings by ensuring it doesn’t go to landfill.

Toowoomba Regional Council mayor Geoff McDonald at a press conference to announce an interim CEO, Tuesday, February 4, 2025. Picture: Kevin Farmer

While the Crisafulli government has pledged further rebates to councils like Toowoomba to mitigate the financial impact, Mr McDonald said the region both deserved and needed a material recovering facility (MRF) funded by the state government to fully embrace waste diversion.

“To be honest, it’s actually a bin tax — it’s a bin-tax for our region from the state government that’s growing at a rate that’s unaffordable for us and for those that are captured within it,” he said during committee meetings last week.

“What we have is a triple-edged sword actually, because not only do we need to encourage less landfill, it also costs us an extraordinary amount, logistics-wise and transport, to remove the recycled.

“The bin tax is something that no resident would like to hear about, the fact remains that it’s an obligation that we have on behalf of the state to collect.

“What our community does deserve and should deserve is that the revenue raised through the bin tax is spent in areas to improve the services that our community deserves around waste.”

The The Greater Toowoomba Waste Management Facility. Photo McNab

The council reportedly estimated a new MRF next door to its Greater Toowoomba Waste Management Centre in Charlton would cost about $25m in 2023, something Mr McDonald believed should be funded by revenue from the waste levy.

“There’s nothing wrong with taxes and rates, providing there is a service delivered,” he said.

“So we’d love to be able to see a recycling plant in our region and that’s the sort of level of investment that a bin tax should bring to places like ours that can service other broader areas.

“It’s a statement of fact that we find ourselves in this situation for largely no fault of our own in many respects, but we need to do things differently and better.”

It was pointed out that a Toowoomba facility would be used by surrounding councils, further incentivising diversionary measures.

Speaking during committee meetings, water and waste general manager Jaek Passier said as much as 60 per cent of the rubbish placed in residents’ red bins could’ve been put in the recycling or green waste bins, which placed further financial pressure on the council through the levy.

Minister for Environment Andrew Powell. Picture: Liam Kidston

“This year it’s going to escalate from $115 a tonne to $125 a tonne — so it doesn’t matter what we bury, this council is levied $125 a tonne to bury, to put something in the ground and bury it,” he said.

“The more we can keep waste out of landfill, the better and the cheaper these facilities and the service the community enjoys can be maintained.”

Environment Minister Andrew Powell wouldn’t comment on the possibility of a Toowoomba MRF, but said the council received $5.3m for the current financial year to help cover the cost of the levy.

“Labor introduced the waste levy way back in 2019 and baked in to the legislation the subsidy drop off,” he said.

“What should have happened was that Labor worked with councils to have infrastructure in place to boost recycling rates in these areas.

“I am absolutely committed to continuing to work with mayors to get more waste out of landfill so we can all ensure that councils don’t pay one cent of the waste levy.”

Millmerran to lose bin service

An example of the Millmerran bin stations that are set to be scrapped.

The topic of the waste levy arose as part of a council motion last week to scrap Millmerran’s longstanding bin stations.

The council will spend $10,000 decommissioning six sites across the district, in what is expected to save about $125,000 a year on labour and waste levy savings.

It will mean all residents want to get rid of bulk waste at the Millmerran waste management facility, which will not see any changes to operating hours.

The scrapping of the bin stations will also mean about 900 residents who were within 20 minutes of a waste facility of any kind will now not be, while 220 will be further than half an hour away from a centre (the minimum benchmark under the council’s waste management policy).

The council’s entire regional 30-minute catchment will drop from 99.3 per cent to 99.1 per cent as a result.