National Waste Reporting 2013
FACTSHEET – JURISDICTIONAL WASTE PROFILES
WESTERN AUSTRALIA (WA)
Policy framework
Legislation
Waste Management in Western Australia is governed predominantly by the Waste Avoidance
and Resource Recovery Act 2007 (WARR Act). The WARR Act establishes the Waste
Authority as the primary advisory board to the Government on waste management.
The Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Levy Act 2007 (WARR Levy Act) and Waste
Avoidance and Resource Recovery Levy Regulations 2008 implement a landfill levy.
Waste facilities, such as landfills and waste processing plants, are required to hold a licence
under the Environmental Protection Act 1986.
Policies/strategies
The Waste Strategy “Creating the Right Environment” was released in March 2012. It is the
basis for policies and programs implemented by the Waste Authority. It sets waste diversion
targets for municipal solid waste, commercial and industrial waste and construction and
demolition waste. It outlines five key strategic objectives. These are:
1. Initiate and maintain long-term planning for waste and recycling processing, and
enable access to suitably located land with buffers sufficient to cater for WA’s waste
management needs.
2. Enhance regulatory services to ensure consistent performance is achieved at landfills,
transfer stations and processing facilities.
3. Develop best practice guidelines, measures and reporting frameworks and promote
their adoption.
4. Use existing economic instruments to support the financial viability of actions that divert
waste from landfill and recover it as a resource.
5. Communicate messages for behaviour change and promote its adoption, and
acknowledge the success of individuals and organisations that act in accord with the
aims and principles in the Strategy and assist in its implementation.
Waste diversion targets
The waste diversion targets given in the Waste Strategy are as follows:

Municipal Solid Waste Sector Targets:
-
50 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection in the
metropolitan region by 30 June 2015
-
65 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection in the
metropolitan region by 30 June 2020
-
30 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection in major
regional centres by 30 June 2015
-
50 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection in major
regional centres by 30 June 2015.
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

Construction and Demolition Waste sector targets:
-
60 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection across the
State by 30 June 2015
-
75 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection across the
State by 30 June 2020.
Commercial and Industrial Waste Sector Targets:
-
55 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection in across the
State by 30 June 2015
-
70 per cent diversion from landfill of material presented for collection across the
State by 30 June 2015.
Levies
A landfill levy applies to all waste disposed to landfill in the metropolitan area and to all waste
generated in the metropolitan area regardless of where it is disposed. The landfill levy is
currently $28 per tonne for putrescible landfills (Category 64, 65 under the Environmental
Protection Regulations 1987) and $12 per cubic metre for “inert” landfills (Category 63 under
the Environmental Protection Regulations 1987).
Putrescible landfills only pay the landfill levy on 92 per cent of the waste received. Both
putrescibles and inert landfills may apply for exemptions from the levy under certain
circumstances, for example for material that is received on site but collected for recycling, not
disposed to landfill.
Classification trees
Figure 1: WA waste classification system
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Infrastructure
The Western Australian Government has identified that the current network of landfills,
alternative waste treatment facilities and recycling facilities are not adequate to meet the
targets set out in the Waste Strategy. The Waste Authority is currently preparing a Waste and
Recycling Infrastructure Plan for Perth and Peel that will propose the infrastructure required to
meet the targets and the needs of the Perth/Peel region to a projected population of 3.5million.
Details of the Strategic Waste Infrastructure Planning Program can be found at:
http://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au/programs/funded-programs/strategic-wasteinfrastructure-planning/
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Waste and recycling data
Per capita waste generation and resource recovery rate
In 2010-11, Western Australians generated about 2.6 tonnes of waste per capita (see
Figure 2), which was the equal highest rate (with ACT) of Australian jurisdictions. This
unexpectedly high rate may partly result from the apparent assumption in WA waste data that
the rate of waste generation in regional and rural areas is equal to that in Perth1.
Per capita disposal in 2010-11 is estimated to have been 1.6 tonnes (79 per cent above the
national average of 0.88 tonnes) and Australia’s third lowest resource recovery rate
(39 per cent, which is 21 percentage points below the national average). The high landfill rate
and low recovery rate are likely to be linked to the same data issue). Very large distances
between collection points and recycling markets also constrain recycling in WA.
Figure 2 Per capita waste generation by management by jurisdiction, 2010-11
Total waste generated
Total waste generation in WA during 2010-11 is estimated at about 6.0 Mt excluding fly ash
and 6.6 Mt including fly ash (see Figure 3). This is the fourth highest of Australia’s jurisdictions,
consistent with WA’s ranking in relation to population and GSP.
The estimate above is less than the waste generation estimate of 6.5 Mt reported in Recycling
Activity in Western Australia 2010-11. The difference is mainly because the method for this
report excludes soil, which was subtracted from the total based on the proportions identified by
Waste Audit and Consultancy Services and Golder Associates (2007).in Disposal Based
Audits of the C&I and the C&D Waste Streams.
1
The Waste Authority (2012) explains that the waste generation rate per capita for the whole state is assumed to be similar to that
of metropolitan WA. Landfill tonnages outside Perth are estimated by subtracting known tonnages of recycling from the assumed
tonnes generated.
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Figure 3 WA total waste generation by management, 2010-11
Waste streams (Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Commercial and Industrial (C&I) and
Construction and Demolition (C&D))
Figure 4 WA total waste generation by waste stream and management, 2010-11
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MSW generation was around 1. 6 Mt with a resource recovery rate of 41 per cent,
which is 10 percentage points below the Australian average. WA is targeting a
MSW recovery rate of 50 per cent in metropolitan areas by 2015.
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C&I waste generation was around 1.5 Mt with a resource recovery rate of
34 per cent, which is 25 percentage points below the Australian average. WA is
targeting a C&I recovery rate of 55 per cent by 2015.
-
C&D waste generation was around 2.8 Mt with a resource recovery rate of
40 per cent, which is 26 percentage points below the Australian average. WA is
targeting a C&D recovery rate of 60 per cent by 2015.
These data may indicate relatively (compared to some jurisdictions) underdeveloped resource
recovery infrastructure in WA. However, if the waste generation estimate is too high (see
above), the true rates of resource recovery could be higher than those presented here. More
information on the MSW, C&I and C&D waste streams is available in the overview on national
waste stream profiles.
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Material categories
In WA, the waste categories that make up the bulk of waste generation are masonry, organics,
metals, paper and cardboard, metals, fly ash and plastics (see Figure 5). Resource recovery
rates for most material categories are below the national average.
Figure 5 WA total waste generation by material category and management, 2010-11
Trends in waste generation and management 2006-07 to 2010-11
Figure 6 shows the per capita trends in waste generation and management for the period
2006-07 to 2010-11 in WA.
Figure 6 WA trends in per capita waste generation and management, 2006-07 to 2010-11
Over the five-year period the following per capita trends are illustrated:
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Waste generation in WA declined gently for most of the period but increased
significantly in 2009/10. The increase is likely to be related to higher disposal rates
due to a large rise in the landfill levy from $6 to $28 for MSW in 2009–10. Waste
generators that had stockpiled waste requiring disposal may have offloaded the
material before the introduction of the higher prices. The overall trend was a
1 per cent decrease over the five years.
-
The resource recovery rate increased from 31 per cent to 39 per cent between
2006/07 and 2010/11.
-
Recycling in WA increased significantly by 29 per cent. Analysis of the data
suggests that the increase was mainly in recovery of waste concrete.
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Waste tonnes allocated to energy recovery diminished by 28 per cent.
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Waste disposal in WA decreased by 12 per cent.
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Figure 7 shows the trends in total waste generation and management for the period 2006-07
to 2010/11 for WA.
Figure 7 WA trends in total waste generation and management, 2006-07 to 2010-11
Over the five-year period the following trends are illustrated in relation to total waste tonnages:
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waste generation increased by 10 per cent
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recycling increased by 43 per cent
-
waste used for energy recovery decreased by 20 per cent
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disposal declined by two per cent.
Sourcing of data
Information on policy frameworks and infrastructure were provided by the government department responsible for waste
management and resource recovery in their state and territory.
Unless otherwise specified, waste generation and resource recovery data for this factsheet were sourced from Blue
Environment and Randell Environmental Consulting’s Waste Generation and Resource Recovery in Australia (2013). It is
important to note that the data (from this report) will not always reconcile with publicly reported data from the states and
territories. The differences in data result from differences in scope, method of compilation, and assumptions used in Waste
generation and resource recovery in Australia. The workbooks provide transparency so that differences between the reported
data sets can be reconciled if necessary.
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