The waste management and resource recovery framework
Changes to NSW waste legislation are designed to streamline waste licensing and regulation and better promote resource recovery. Amendments to the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 and the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005 took effect on 28 April 2008. These changes, made under the Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Scheduled Activities and Waste) Regulation 2008, follow consultation in 2007 with the waste industry and the broader community and are summarised below:
- Fewer and simpler licensing categories for waste
- A streamlined waste classification system
- New resource recovery licensing categories and resource recovery exemptions
- Clearer requirements for managing asbestos and clinical waste
The Department of Environment and Climate Change’s waste management focus is to provide a clear and consistent regulatory and policy framework that minimises harm to the environment and delivers greater waste avoidance and resource recovery. This framework uses a mix of legislative, policy, educative and economic tools to encourage waste avoidance and the further recovery of resources.
The waste regulatory framework is administered under the principal legislation of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) and the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001.
The POEO Act aims to reduce risks to human health and prevent the degradation of the environment by the use of mechanisms that promote pollution prevention, the elimination of harmful wastes, the reduction in the use of materials, and the re-use, recovery and recycling of materials. Regulatory mechanisms such as the waste and environment levy help drive waste avoidance and resource recovery by providing an economic incentive to reduce waste disposal and stimulate alternative waste technologies.
Achieving a reduction in waste generation, and turning waste into recoverable resources is a priority for NSW. Programs are established under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001 to help meet this challenge. Such programs and policies are identified in the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy.