Rockhampton Council Seeks State Subsidies to Cover High Recycling Transport Costs

Rockhampton Regional Council has warned that it cannot meet Queensland's state-mandated recycling targets due to the escalating costs of transporting recyclable materials hundreds of kilometres for processing. Mayor Tony Williams is urging the state government to provide subsidies to help offset these growing freight expenses.

Currently, the council spends $3 million annually on waste services, with transportation fees accounting for more than one-third of that total. Each year, approximately 10,000 tonnes of household recyclables from the Rockhampton region are transported 600 kilometres to a processing facility located on the Sunshine Coast.

Rising Costs and Infrastructure Challenges

Central Queensland household recyclables were historically processed at a local private materials recovery facility in Rockhampton, but that plant was destroyed by a battery fire in 2020. Since then, the council has struggled to attract another private operator to establish a new local facility.

According to Mayor Williams, sending recyclables away for processing costs the local government roughly $300 per tonne, compared to around $100 per tonne for local councils in south-east Queensland. With rising fuel prices, internal council planning indicates that the state's recycling goals remain unachievable without financial intervention, criticizing the state's broad approach to recycling for failing to address the challenges of distance.

State Targets and Industry Response

In June, the Queensland government released a waste strategy targeting a 65 per cent overall recycling rate by 2035, requiring major regional hubs like Rockhampton to halve the volume of waste sent to landfill. In response to regional concerns, Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell stated that the government is delivering support through $11 million in new infrastructure funding and is currently designing a specialized fund to help regional councils cover processing transport costs.

Addressing the broader systemic issue, Australian Council of Recycling chief Suzanne Toumbourou expressed disappointment over shelved federal packaging reforms, noting that regulatory certainty would have distributed financial responsibility more evenly across supply chains and producers. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt stated that the federal government remains focused on collaborating with state and territory leaders to reduce waste by harmonizing national packaging and recycling policies.