Govt waives levy for earthquake waste

The Government has waived the $10 a tonne waste levy on Canterbury landfills for earthquake waste as it is inappropriate for the fund to profit due to additional waste from the Canterbury earthquake, Environment Minister Nick Smith says.

“The Waste Minimisation Act provides for a waiver in the levy under exceptional circumstances and the Canterbury earthquake is just that,” Dr Smith said. “The levy would add several million dollars to the clean up costs based on preliminary estimates of the volumes of waste going to landfills which are reporting an eightfold increase on normal operations. We are waiving the levy to minimise the clean up costs.

“The purpose of the waste levy is to encourage recycling and waste minimisation during the normal course of business. An earthquake of this scale is such an exceptional event that the levy would only add unnecessary cost to Canterbury’s clean up. There will be no impact on the Government’s waste minimisation and recycling programme of work as estimates do not include the extra waste from a disaster of this sort.

“Landfills in Canterbury have been advised of the waiver by the Environment Ministry. The waiver will be applied to all earthquake-generated waste from the beginning of this week until the clean up is complete.

“This pragmatic measure to waive the waste levy is part of the Government’s broader programme to support Canterbury’s recovery from Saturday’s devastating earthquake.”

ENDS

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