2018-03-06 S&O Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 2 - Public Interest Test Report

Noosa Council - Public Interest Test Report: Proposed Local Law No. 7 (Waste Management) 2017
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                              (v)        Examples of innovation and technical development within the industry in
                              recent times includes vehicle engine design that meet and exceed high
                              international emission standards, vehicle design changes to accommodate
                              Australian operating conditions, compactor design and capability, compactor
                              paddle design, vehicle tracking and camera systems, GPS and other commercial
                              logging instrumentation systems, as well the materials currently used in compactor
                              and chassis manufacturer. Many of these innovations have a positive
                              environmental impact, demonstrating that competition is positive for the
                              environment while a lack of competition could stymie such beneficial
                              developments .
                              (vi)       The proposed local law will not encourage economic development and
                              research or capital investment. The number of waste disposal facilities trucks and
                              staff will remain materially unchanged, as this is dependent totally upon the
                              number of collection services, not the number of competitors operating within the
                              Councils' territory. This would potentially make other facilities owned by
                              competitors redundant and likely have a negative effect on economic growth.
                              (vii)      There would be no contribution to economic or employment growth within
                              the Noosa Council area. In fact, if smaller operators were forced to close, this
                              would have a detrimental impact on local employment within the Coastal region.
                              (viii)     There would be no particular incentive for the improvement of quality or
                              safety of the services even within the Councils' areas and certainly not within the
                              wider public. In particular there would be a reduction rather than an expansion of
                              consumer choice of service providers.
                              (ix)       The State Government has announced Queensland will introduce a
                              Container Refund Scheme (CRS) in July 2018. If the proposed local law is
                              introduced, Council will control the recycling operations for all commercial property
                              owners in designated precincts. Councils will, therefore, e:ontrol all containers
                              generated by all commercial premises cover by the proposed local law.
                              (x)        In the future, a local business owner may choose to provide its own
                              container for recyclables covered by the CRS or alternately seek to take its bottles
                              or cans to a local network operation, however it will still incur the full Council's rate
                              charge regardless. Under the proposed law Council would have total control to
                              determine what containers are approved for holding waste and recyclables and
                              how these rules are applied.
                              (xi)       · It is therefore very unlikely any business owner would choose to
                              participate in the CRS and this may, in the long term, affect the success of the
                              CRS.
                              (xii)      Council already has declared precincts that capture the entire Council
                              area and as result all commercial properties in the council area required to pay a
                              mandatory fee for council waste collection services. Evidence provides even
                              where a private contractor has offered a free or alternate recycling service to a
                              local business or where a business owner is contracted to a national or other