Rachel asked a question to the Minister for Environment, requesting clarification on waste-to-energy caps and licences. She noted that facility contracts require a certain volume of waste to be burnt, inquiring as to when Victoria will commence importing waste from other states to fulfill quotas.
Wednesday 4th of February 2026,
Victorian Legislative Council
Rachel Payne (South-Eastern Metropolitan):
Substantive question
My question is for the Minister for Environment, represented in this place by the Minister for Skills and TAFE.
Thank you, Treasurer. The cap on the amount of waste that can be heat-treated to generate energy is currently set at 2.5 million tonnes per annum. The Victorian government website on waste to energy states seven licences have been issued totalling 2.35 million tonnes, but this figure excludes existing operator licences for facilities in Maryvale, Dandenong, Laverton and Coolaroo totalling hundreds of thousands of additional tonnes of waste. We understand that some of the existing operators may be seeking to expand their licence to allow them to burn even more waste.
Can the minister advise what the total amount of waste licence for burning in Victoria actually is?
Jaclyn Symes (Northern Victoria, Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Regional Development):
Substantive response
I thank Ms Payne for her question and her interest in this matter, and the Minister for Environment will be able to respond with information about licences in relation to your question.
Rachel Payne (South-Eastern Metropolitan):
Supplementary question
I thank the Treasurer for referring that on. By way of supplementary, the annual cap on the amount of waste that can be burnt has increased from 1 million tonnes to 2.5 million tonnes – a 150 per cent increase in just a handful of years. Should this rate continue, it will soon outpace the 4.5 million tonnes of residual waste that is currently going to landfill in Victoria, but agreements with these operators require a certain amount of waste to be sent to these facilities.
So my question is: when will Victoria start importing waste from across Australia to burn in our backyards?
Jaclyn Symes:
Supplementary response
I will not bite. I will pass that on to the Minister for Environment, who may.
Written response received, 17th of February 2026:
Under the Waste to Energy scheme, there is a cap on the amount of permitted waste that can be processed by thermal waste to energy facilities with a cap licence in a financial year.
The cap limit ensures that thermal waste to energy remains a complementary solution within Victoria’s circular economy, prioritising waste reduction, reuse, and recycling before energy recovery.
The cap was set at 2.5 million tonnes in July 2025 following public consultation on a regulatory impact statement. The cap was set taking into consideration the amount of permitted waste already authorised under existing operator licences and the long-term projections of permitted waste availability in Victoria based on Victoria’s Recycling Infrastructure Plan, to manage the risk of over-investment in thermal waste to energy. This avoids the need for waste to be imported from other jurisdictions.
In August 2025, Recycling Victoria concluded a robust, fair and transparent decision-making process to determine and issue cap licences. The Head Recycling Victoria has issued 7 cap licences totalling 2.35 million tonnes per annum.
The Victorian Government does not support any increase to the current WtE cap. The government also does not support importing waste from other jurisdictions.
