Fees that could have cost waste exporters hundreds of thousands of dollars to send paper and cardboard offshore for recycling have been scrapped in a joint manoeuvre between the Greens and the Coalition.
The parties joined to strike down a fee that costs exporters about $13,500 every time they vary a contract, which industry sources argued could be as often as four times a day if destinations, recyclable volumes and carrying ships change — though the government has argued it would only apply to substantial changes such as what waste is being exported.
The department also advised the industry in May the fee would be triggered in some instances but for others, such as a change of waste supplier, it would not attract a charge.
The move is another blow by the Senate against Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, who has so far been unable to win support for her proposed environmental laws.
Ms Plibersek said the Coalition and Greens had teamed up "to make it easier to send Australian rubbish overseas and increase greenwashing".
"The decision to licence the export of waste was made in 2019 by the Morrison government alongside the states and territories. They also announced the costs of regulating the export of waste would be a levy from industry — not taxpayers," Ms Plibersek said.
"Sussan Ley called it 'historic' and said it was 'critical' and the 'right step for the economy and the environment'. Why have they changed their mind?"
Nationals, Greens senators say move to scrap fee was avoidable
Speaking on the disallowance motion, Nationals senator Ross Cadell said he wanted to avoid striking down the fee, but the government had not cooperated.
"We're not here out of joy saying, 'This is a great day, we rolled something.' This is sad," Senator Cadell said.
"This is something I think that has come about by the inattention of a serious problem that saw commodity-based recyclables head into landfill, which is a perverse circumstance for what we try to do in the renewables industry.
"It could have very easily not been put today, it could have disappeared in the ether."
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said he also would have preferred to avoid the uncommon move, but it was the consequence of government failing to listen to industry.
"These regulations have been unanimously rejected by the resource recovery and recycling sector, and supported by no one except Labor. Recyclers have attempted countless times to engage with the government to attempt to resolve issues, without success," the senator said.
"The disallowance of these regulations is a problem of the government's own making. The Greens have asked the government for months to meet with the resource recovery sector to resolve issues related to export licence variations contained in these regulations. This has not occurred."
The senator said he hoped the disallowance would motivate the government to return to the drawing board and redraft the scheme.
Motion comes after urging Plibersek to meet with industry
An inquiry into the waste sector has heard from industry that the variation fees, dubbed a "recycling tax", would threaten to send more recyclable products to landfill because it would be cheaper than sending offshore to be processed, and state regulations prevent it from being put into storage.
Waste Management and Resource Recovery group boss Gayle Sloan told that inquiry the fees were unfair because they only applied to products being exported to be recycled, and did not apply to virgin materials, putting the sector at a disadvantage.
Gayle Sloan told senators the variation fees on waste exports for recyclables put recycling at a disadvantage. (Supplied: Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR))
The sector has been critical of a lack of communication from the environment department over how the fees will and will not apply to them.
The industry is broadly supportive of fees companies must pay to register to export, which began earlier this year.
But they say prices to vary contracts are not only prohibitively high, but the process can take up to six months — when they are often trading at short notice.
In a letter to the environment minister seen by the ABC, the waste inquiry's chair, Peter Whish-Wilson, noted Senator Cadell's disallowance motion was before the senate, and urged Ms Plibersek to sit with industry before its November 20 deadline arrived.
Peter Whish-Wilson said industry figures across the waste sector had voiced their concerns to a Senate inquiry. (ABC News: Ashleigh Barraclough)
The Greens senator wrote the industry across the spectrum had raised concerns about the potential unintended consequences of the waste export rules, that could render some businesses unviable and impact recycling efforts.
He warned "a lack of transparency regarding the departmental, or other, costs being covered by these variation fees is also undermining trust in the government's stated goals of working collaboratively to drive down waste and increase domestic recycling".
A waste export "ban" was introduced by the Morrison government with the agreement of the states and territories after China stopped accepting foreign waste and recyclables under its "National Sword" policy.
The export regulations restrict what can be sent offshore to be recycled, and require pre-approvals or exemptions to do so — but a lack of domestic infrastructure and local demand for recycled goods has required Australia to continue to process some recycled goods overseas.
In May, the government agreed to jettison its planned export levy on the industry — but the variation fees were retained, and the final phase of regulations for paper and cardboard began in October.