Rachel questioned the government on waste management. She inquired about waste management targets and the establishment of large-scale waste incineration over a circular economy.
Wednesday the 28th of May 2025
Victorian Legislative Council
Rachel Payne (South-Eastern Metropolitan):
Substantive question
My question is for the Minister for Environment in the other place. In 2022 the annual cap on the amount of waste that could be burnt in Victoria was set at 1 million tonnes. Since then the cap has steadily increased and, pending the outcome of recent consultation, it is likely to rise again to 2.5 million. This represents a 150 per cent increase in just three years.
The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office recently reported, in Recycling Resources from Waste, that once the four waste-to-energy facilities that are currently under development in Victoria come online and reach full operating capacity, up to 87 per cent of waste in Victoria will be burnt.
My question is: is the government planning to abandon a circular economy to make way for large-scale waste incineration?
Gayle Tierney (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water):
Substantive response
I thank the member for the question and her interest in this particular issue. This matter will be referred to the Minister for Environment for a response.
Rachel Payne (South-Eastern Metropolitan):
Supplementary question
Thank you, Minister, for referring my query on. By way of supplementary, the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report warned that Victoria is not on track to meet its target of diverting 80 per cent of waste away from landfill by 2030.
In fact, the proportion of waste going to landfill has not changed in the four years since the Victorian government started their circular economy policy. It was also unclear if the government is meeting their target to halve the amount of organic material that is going to landfill.
Can the minister advise what they are doing to address these failures?
Gayle Tierney (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water):
Supplementary response
Again, I thank the member for her question, and I will refer the matter to the Minister for Environment for a written response.
Written response, received 1st of July 2025:
The Victorian Government supports waste to energy projects where they create clear net benefits and complement efforts to reduce and recycle waste. Waste to energy technologies can play a useful role in the transition to a circular economy, allowing the energy value to be captured from waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill. This can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create new jobs.
The Waste to Energy Framework, released in 2021, proposed a cap limit of 1 million tonnes per annum. In late 2023 and early 2024 the Victorian Government formally consulted on three options for waste to energy cap settings to inform the regulations that would formalise the cap: 1, 1.5 and 2 million tonnes per annum. As a result of this consultation, the decision was made to set the cap limit at 2 million tonnes per annum when the regulations were made in December 2024.
As you note, consultation has recently occurred on a Regulatory Impact Statement and regulations that would increase the cap limit to 2.5 million tonnes. Feedback from the recent consultation is currently being considered.
I welcome the Victorian Auditor-General’s audit report ‘Recycling resources from waste’.
Regarding the statement in the report about the proportion of waste that is expected to go to waste to energy in future – it is important to note that only waste that cannot practically be separated for reuse or recycling is permitted to be used for waste to energy. There are significant penalties for processing banned waste at waste to energy facilities, including waste that’s readily recyclable.
As well as the four existing operators, it also includes licences issued under the 2 million tonnes per annum cap.
The Victorian Government remains strongly committed to a circular economy – it is identified in our Economic Growth Statement as one of five priority sectors to set the trajectory for Victoria’s future growth. Action under the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy, including to improve household recycling systems and increase investment in recycling infrastructure, will continue to drive waste avoidance and recycling. The cap limit ensures that waste to energy remains a complementary solution within Victoria’s circular economy, prioritising waste reduction, reuse, and recycling before energy recovery.
Importantly, VAGO concluded that the audited agencies have made considerable progress to build Victoria’s capacity to recover and reprocess waste. That said, we know there’s more to do.
DEECA and Sustainability Victoria accept the VAGO recommendations for future actions and have developed plans for delivering on them. That includes improvements to data collection and reporting, and continued market development for Victoria’s waste and recycling sector.
Victoria has made significant progress to more effectively and productively manage its waste as a result of the Government’s record investment of over $538 million in waste and recycling since 2016. These reforms have reduced risks to the community, are creating thousands of jobs, delivering on our climate change targets, and ensuring Victorians have a recycling system they can rely on.
As of 2023-24, Victoria is recovering 70% of all waste generated – among the strongest in the nation and on our way to our target to divert 80% of waste from landfill by 2030. There will be further progress in the coming years as the circular economy programs and structural reforms we have delivered over the last five years continue to roll out:
- The extraordinary success of Victoria’s container deposit scheme CDS Vic will continue to divert more beverage containers from landfill.
- Increasing Victoria’s waste levies from 1 July 2025 will drive less waste and more resource recovery.
- Waste to energy facilities in Victoria will generate valuable energy from waste materials that currently go to landfill.
- All councils are introducing food organics and garden organics recycling services, diverting even more organic waste from landfill. This will drive progress again both the landfill diversion and halving organics from landfill targets.
Steve Dimopoulos MP
Minister for Environment
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