WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES


SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS

At the end of June 2010, there were 2,667 businesses/organisations involved in the provision of waste management services. They comprised 2,120 businesses in the private and public trading sector classified to the waste collection, treatment and disposal services industry and 547 general government sector organisations. There were 26,812 people employed by private and public trading sector businesses in the waste management services industry. A further 5,925 were employed in waste related activities in the general government sector.


INCOME

Businesses in the private and public trading sector received income of $8.6b during the 2009-10 financial year. The main source of income was waste services, accounting for $5.1b or 59.9% of total income. Sales of recyclable or recoverable material contributed a further 26% of total income.

Waste services income can be broken down into the waste stream from which the waste originated, and can also be broken down by the type of waste, and by the service type.

For private and public trading sector businesses, income from the commercial and industrial stream contributed 61.4% of waste services income, followed by the domestic and municipal waste stream (27.3%) and the construction and demolition stream (10.5%). Most waste was non-hazardous, comprising 82.9% of waste services income. Non-recyclable waste services contributed the most to waste services income (83.8%), with recyclable waste services accounting for the remaining 16.2%.

The general government sector received income of $2.6b in relation to waste activity. The main sources of this income were rates, charges, levies, fines and licences related to waste management activities (77.1%), followed by waste services income (19.5%) and sales of recyclable or recoverable material (1.6%). For this sector, the commercial and industrial waste and domestic and municipal waste streams contributed similarly to waste services income (42.1% and 41.8% respectively). Almost all waste services income was generated through non-hazardous waste (98.1%). The sources of waste services income for the general government sector were similar to the private and public trading sector, with non-recyclable waste accounting for 84% of waste services income and recyclable waste accounting for 16%.

EXPENSES

During the 2009-10 financial year total expenditure by private and public trading sector businesses was $8b. The largest expenses for the sector were labour costs (22.9%) and purchases of goods and materials (22.5%). Fees for the treatment, processing and disposal of waste accounted for 8% while contract and subcontract expenses for waste management services contributed 7% of total expenses.

General government sector expenditure on waste management activities was $2.2b during 2009-10. The largest expenses for this sector were contract and subcontract expenses for waste management services (48.2%), wages and salaries (15.1%) and fees for the treatment, processing and disposal of waste (14.4%).


BUSINESS SIZE

Private and public trading sector businesses with 0-4 employees made up 71.7% of all businesses, and contributed 12.2% of total employment, 7.3% of total income, and 6.9% of total expenses. Businesses with 100 or more employees made up only 0.9% of all businesses yet contributed 54.4% of total employment, 68.2% of total income and 69.9% of total expenses.

STATES/TERRITORIES

In the private and public trading sector, 709 waste management services businesses had activity located in New South Wales in June 2010, representing 33.4% of the total waste management services businesses in Australia, while 592 (27.9%) had activity located in Victoria. The businesses in these two states contributed 58.5% of total private and public sector employment, 62.7% of total income and 63.1% of total expenses in 2009-10.

General government sector organisations in New South Wales employed 2,311 people in activities related to waste management, contributing 39% of total general government sector employment, followed by Western Australia (1,096 or 18.5%) and Queensland (1,036 or 17.5%). New South Wales contributed $971.8m (37.4%) of total general government sector income related to waste management activity, while Queensland contributed $548.2m (21.1%) and Victoria $471.5m (18.1%). Expenditure related to waste management activity was highest for New South Wales at $826.1m (38% of the Australian total), with Queensland contributing 418.1m (19.2%) and Victoria $389.1m (17.9%).


ACTIVITY

During 2009-10, the most common activities for waste management private and public sector businesses were collection and transport of waste (57.8%), collection and transport of recyclables (38.6%) and collection and transport of green waste (22.2%). Note that businesses could be involved in more than one activity.

The most common activities for general government sector organisations were transfer station or waste depot operation (55%), landfill operation (54%) and collection and transport of waste (40.6%).

FACILITY OPERATION AND WASTE QUANTITIES

A total of 2,692 facilities were operated by 827 waste management services businesses and general government sector organisations at 30 June 2010. Of these, 1,037 facilities were transfer stations or waste depots, and 918 were landfills.

During 2009-10, there were 21.6 million tonnes of waste received at landfills, with 7.4 million tonnes (34.2%) coming from the domestic and municipal waste stream, 6.7 million tonnes (30.8%) from the commercial and industrial waste stream and 5.6 million tonnes (25.8%) from the construction and demolition waste stream.

Facilities other than landfills included those involved in recovery and reprocessing, as well as those involved in treatment and disposal of special types of waste such as liquid or hazardous waste. These facilities received 17.6 million tonnes of waste, with 4.9 million tonnes (27.9%) coming from the domestic and municipal waste stream, 8.8 million tonnes (50.2%) from the commercial and industrial waste stream and 2.3 million tonnes (13.2%) from the construction and demolition waste stream.

Of the material received at facilities other than landfills, 10.4 million tonnes (59%) were recovered or reprocessed, 4 million tonnes (22.8%) were disposed to landfill or other final destination, and 3.2 million tonnes (18.2%) were transferred to other businesses/organisations for recovery or reprocessing. Some of this waste may be transferred out of the waste services industry and reprocessed by another industry (see glossary for definition of 'transferred to other businesses/organisations for recovery or reprocessing').

The main materials received at facilities other than landfills were mixed/general waste (2.9 million tonnes), metals (2.7 million tonnes) and paper and cardboard (1.9 million tonnes). Slightly more than one third of all material sent for disposal by facilities other than landfills was mixed or general waste (1.6 million tonnes). The main materials recovered or reprocessed were metals (2.2 million tonnes), and paper and cardboard (1.7 million tonnes). The overall recovery rate for materials received at facilities other than landfills was 72.1% (see glossary for definition of 'recovery rate').

A total of 13.2 million tonnes of material was recovered or reprocessed from landfills and other waste facilities. This material was diverted from being disposed at landfills, resulting in a diversion rate of 42.6% (see glossary for definition of 'diversion rate').

FACTORS HAMPERING RESOURCE RECOVERY

Regardless of the waste activities undertaken, all businesses/organisations were asked whether there were any factors that significantly hampered their ability to increase resource recovery. Almost 83% of private and public trading sector businesses reported at least one factor, the main factors being cost of development or implementation (14.4%), lack of customer demand (12.8%) and lack of facilities or infrastructure (12.2%). For the general government sector the main factors were lack of access to additional funds (50.5%), lack of facilities or infrastructure (49.3%) and cost of development or implementation (47%).