Levy legislation
The Less Landfill, More Recycling 2035: Queensland Waste Strategy aims to achieve an overall 65 per cent recycling rate and cut waste to landfill by 2.6 million tonnes by 2035. The strategy is a practical, ambitious plan focused on making recycling easier for households and businesses, investing in modern infrastructure, building stronger markets for recycled materials and tackling priority wastes including organics, plastics, batteries, mattresses, e-waste (including solar panels), textiles and tyres. The Waste Strategy is underpinned by Queensland’s waste levy.
The waste levy is given legislative effect through the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 and Waste Reduction and Recycling Regulation 2023.
The levy laws allow eligible organisations to apply for exemptions and discounts from the levy, as well as require other administrative notifications and declarations.
2026 Waste Levy Review Outcomes
The waste levy has been reviewed, with changes and benefits for Queenslanders. The 2026 waste levy review focused on:
- assessing effectiveness for increasing recycling rates and incentivising recycling
- the impacts of New South Wales potentially increasing its levy, which may result in increases to interstate waste movements
- the influence of annual payments to councils on achieving municipal solid waste (MSW) targets, including if annual payments should be tied to reductions in MSW to landfill
- reviewing excluded, exempt, and discounted waste types.
For further enquiries, email OWRR@detsi.qld.gov.au
