Australian Regulatory Trends 2019

Environmental regulation

WASTE REGULATION

Commercial and regulatory challenges continue to face the waste industry. The most significant of which have been policy changes overseas such as China’s National Sword policy which significantly limits the type of recyclable material China will accept, as well as similar developments in India, Malaysia, and other countries in the Asia-Pacific. NEW SOUTH WALES Waste regulation continues to be one of the New South Wales ( NSW ) Environmental Protection Authority’s ( EPA ) regulatory priorities in 2019 following the trend from previous years. In NSW, the Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Asbestos Waste) Act 2018 amended the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 ( POEO Act ), to better manage and control asbestos waste in NSW and raises certain asbestos waste offences. The NSW EPA awarded over AUD 500,000 to projects aiming to combat illegal dumping.

WHAT ARE THE EMERGING ISSUES?

–– Continued regulator scrutiny –– Commercial pressures

for lawful disposal –– Tightening focus on asbestos waste –– Discussion of national approach

The regulation of waste continues to be a national issue, with regulators and the waste industry across Australia struggling to deal with the growing amount of waste in Australia, and the consequences of China’s National Sword policy.

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