Queensland Waste Levy Amount

Operators of waste disposal sites (landfills) inside the levy zone pay the levy. That includes both local councils and private businesses that run landfills, and they pay it to the Queensland Government based on how much levyable waste goes to landfill. Households and businesses that produce the waste are not billed by the government, but they usually end up paying it indirectly through gate fees.

Approach: RegAffairs AI doesn't hold Queensland's waste levy legislation yet, so this comes from the Queensland Government's official pages on qld.gov.au and business.qld.gov.au. The liability provisions themselves are in the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 and its Regulation, which I did not open.

Who is liable

• Landfill operators in the levy zone. The Queensland Government says: "Operators of waste disposal sites located within the levy zone are required to pay a levy on waste disposed to landfill" (Requirements for operators in the levy zone). It also confirms that "Landfill operators (local councils and private businesses) pay the levy to the Queensland Government" (About Queensland's waste levy).
• Where the zone applies. The levy zone covers 39 of Queensland's 77 local government areas: 10 in the metropolitan zone and 29 in the regional zone. Waste that comes from outside the levy zone pays no levy, wherever it is disposed of (overview).

How the cost reaches customers

• Gate fees. "The landfill operator may pass this levy on to their customers, normally through adjustment of gate fees" (Waste levy and your business). Each operator decides whether and how to pass it on.
• Household waste. Councils get annual payments to cover some of the levy they owe on household and some other municipal waste. They also get further payments for commercial services that collect from residential sites such as caravan parks and retirement villages. Property owners who use a private collection service can apply for funding to cover their levy costs (overview).

What operators must do besides paying

• Weighbridges. Sites must have one to measure waste. The deadline for sites whose environmental authority allows less than 5,000 tonnes a year was 30 June 2024.
• Data reporting. Operators report through the Queensland Waste Data System.
• Annual volumetric survey. The survey must be done by 30 June, and the results sent to the department by 31 July each year (levy zone requirements).

I can open the Act and Regulation next to find the exact sections that set out who is liable and how payment works, if that would help.

Queensland's 2026-27 levy is lower than Victoria's in the metropolitan area. General waste in South East Queensland pays $135/t, compared with $177.19/t at Victorian metropolitan landfills. Regional rates are closer: Queensland charges $100/t, while rural Victoria charges $88.42/t for municipal waste and $155.95/t for industrial waste. For NSW, I couldn't open an official page that gives the 2026-27 rates. The latest NSW figures I could open are $163.20/t (Metropolitan Levy Area) and $94/t (Regional Levy Area), and both are already above Queensland's metropolitan and regional rates.

Approach: RegAffairs AI doesn't hold Australian state waste levy data yet, so this comes from official EPA Victoria, NSW EPA and NSW Government pages, plus the Queensland figures from my earlier answers. The NSW EPA's rates page wouldn't load its content, so the NSW figures below come from the EPA's levy review page, which doesn't say which year they apply to.

Rates per tonne in 2026-27

How the three systems differ

• How rates are set and increased:
  • Queensland: metro rates rise by a fixed $10 a year, and regional rates rise by the Government Indexation Rate.
  • Victoria: from July 2026, rates are set in fee units adjusted each year by the Treasurer (EPA Victoria).
  • NSW: rates "are adjusted annually in line with the Consumer Price Index" (NSW EPA levy review). The Government has said rates "will not rise above the Consumer Price Index in the 2026–27 financial year" (NSW ministerial release).
• Municipal vs industrial waste:
  • Victoria is the only one of the three that charges rural industrial waste much more than rural municipal waste ($155.95 vs $88.42).
  • Queensland and NSW charge one general rate per zone.
• Hazardous waste: Victoria's highest landfillable priority waste category (B, $296.18) costs about $81 a tonne more than Queensland's highest metro regulated waste rate (Cat 1, $215). Victoria also bans landfilling Category A waste outright.

Who pays

• Queensland: operators of waste disposal sites in the levy zone (see my previous answer).
• Victoria: "A waste levy must be paid for all waste received at a landfill. This includes municipal, industrial and priority waste" (EPA Victoria).
• NSW: certain EPA-licensed waste facilities, such as landfills, that are located in or receive waste from the Metropolitan or Regional Levy Areas. They pay per tonne of solid waste received (NSW EPA levy review).
  • The NSW EPA's Waste Levy Guidelines put the legal duties on "occupiers of scheduled waste facilities", under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 and the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2014 (Waste Levy Guidelines, Feb 2024).
  • NSW also has a separate liquid waste levy, the subject of Guideline 6 of those Guidelines.

In all three states the landfill or facility operator is liable, not the person who produces the waste.

I can try again to get the NSW 2026-27 rates from the NSW Waste Regulation itself, and which councils fall in each NSW levy area, if you'd like.