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Glossary - waste reporting and levies

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A

Act  - Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997

Approved  - Approved by the EPA from time to time.

Approved community service or emergency incident exemption - Waste, collected in accordance with a community service or community activity, or arising from a biological outbreak or natural disaster, that has been approved in writing by the EPA as exempt from payment of the contribution. Refer to the, Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005. 

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B     

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C

Commercial and industrial waste - waste generated by businesses and industries (including shopping centres, restaurants and offices) and institutions (such as schools, hospitals and government offices), excluding construction and demolition waste and municipal waste.

Construction and demolition waste - waste sourced from construction and demolition works and includes: building and demolition waste, asphalt waste and excavated natural material.

Community service or emergency incident  - see Approved community service or emergency incident exemption.

[waste] Contribution - the amount payable by licensed waste facilities to the EPA for waste received at the facility. The requirement to pay contributions is contained in section 88, Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. Also known as the 'waste levy' or 'waste and environment levy'.

Contribution deduction - see Deduction

CPI - Consumer Price Index (All Groups Index) for Sydney issued by the Australian Statistician (see the Australian Bureau of Statistics).

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D

DEC - the Department of Environment and Conservation NSW.

Deduction - deduction from the contribution (waste levy) payable by a licensed waste facility, as described in clause 11, Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005.

Deduction identification number (DIN) -  number issued by the EPA for approved operational purposes deduction and covering the following specific parameters:

• the waste facility for which the deduction is approved
• the period of approval (usually a maximum of 12 months)
• the type of waste
• the quantity of waste approved for deduction
• the specific final capping or pond filling works to be undertaken (i.e. the approved operational purpose).

Domestic waste - all household waste placed on the kerbside for regular collection by the council or council contractors (that is, weekly or fortnightly kerbside collection of garbage and recyclables). Note: For the purpose of completing a WCMR, domestic garden and vegetation wastes should be recorded as garden organics. See also other domestic waste.

Dredging spoil - waste from the excavation of material to provide and/or increase the dimensions of a waterway, or ensure that existing channels, berths or construction works are maintained at their design specifications.

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E

EPA - the Environment Protection Authority as constituted under the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991. In September 2003 the EPA became part of the Department of Environment and Conservation NSW (DEC) 

ERA - see Extended regulated area

Exempt waste - The following types of waste received at a scheduled waste facility are exempted from the calculation of the contribution payable for each tonne of waste received at the waste facility:

• any liquid waste lawfully discharged at the waste facility into waters (in accordance with a licence under the Act) or into a sewer,
• any ash residue generated at a scheduled waste facility that is an incinerator,
• any spoil generated by dredging activities,
• any waste collected in accordance with a community service or activity, or arising from a biological outbreak or natural disaster, and that has been approved in writing for the purposes of this clause.

See clause 10, Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005

Extended regulated area - the area comprising the Cessnock, Gosford, Hawkesbury, Kiama, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Wingecarribee, Wollongong and Wyong local government areas. See LGA lists

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F

Final capping - see operational purpose, (a)

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G

Garden organics - waste comprising the following: grass, leaves, plants, loppings, branches, trees, (incl. stumps), composts, and mulches.

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I 

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J

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K

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L

[waste] Levy - waste and environment levy, see [waste] Contribution

Local government area (LGA) - to determine the waste contribution rate payable, each local government area is defined as being in the Sydney metropolitan area, the extended regulatory, or in the rest of NSW (see table previous page).

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M

Material composition code (MCC) - see MCC list

Municipal waste - solid and inert wastes arising from the four waste sub-streams: domestic waste, other domestic waste, other council waste and garden organics as defined here. Note: For the purposes of completing a WCMR, garden and vegetation wastes derived from municipal sources should be recorded as garden organics.

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N

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O

Operational purposes - in relation to the use of waste, means:

• in the case of any waste - the purpose of the final capping of works, or
• in the case of waste that consists solely of virgin excavated natural material - the purpose of placing the material below the water table to rehabilitate a sand mine, in accordance with the condition of an environment protection licence.

Other council waste - waste collected by the council or council contractors from the clean-up of municipal parks and gardens, street sweepings, council tidy bins and drop off centres and from large events within the council's jurisdiction (e.g. Opera in the Park). Note: For the purpose of completing a WCMR, council garden and vegetation wastes should be recorded as garden organics. Further, other wastes generated by council should be recorded in the appropriate waste stream table within the WCMR. For example, wastes from council engineering works should be recorded as waste received from contruction and demolition (C&D) sources.

Other domestic waste - domestic clean-up waste collected from residential kerbsides by the council or council contractors or waste transported by residents directly to a landfill or waste facility. Note: For the purpose of completing a WCMR, domestic garden and vegetation wastes should be recorded in the separate waste sub-stream garden organics. See also domestic waste.

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P

Pond filling - see operational purpose, (b).

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Q

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R

Records - includes plans, specifications, maps, reports, books and other documents (whether in writing, in electronic form or otherwise).

Rest of NSW - all local government areas not included in either the SMA or ERA. See LGA lists

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S

Scheduled waste facility - waste facility required to be licensed under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

Sydney metropolitan area (SMA) - the area encompassing the following local government areas: Ashfield, Auburn, Bankstown, Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Botany, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury, Fairfield, Holroyd, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Hurstville, Kogarah, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Leichhardt, Liverpool, Manly, Marrickville, Mosman, North Sydney, Parramatta, Penrith, Pittwater, Randwick, Rockdale, Ryde, South Sydney, Strathfield, Sutherland, Sydney, Warringah, Waverley, Willoughby, Woollahra. See LGA lists.

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T

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U

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V

Vegetation or garden waste - grass, leaves, plants, loppings, branches, tree trunks and stumps, and any mixture of those materials.

Virgin excavated natural material (VENM) - material, such as clay, gravel, sand, soil and rock, that is not mixed with any other type of waste and that:

• has been excavated from areas of land that are not contaminated as the result of industrial, commercial, mining or agricultural activities, with manufactured chemicals, and that does not contain sulphidic ores or soils, or
• consists of excavated natural materials which meet such criteria as may be approved by the EPA.

More about assessment of, and options for disposal of, VENM.

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W

Waste - includes:

1. any substance (whether solid, liquid or gaseous) that is discharged, emitted or deposited in the environment in such volume, constituency or manner as to cause an alteration in the environment, or
    
2. any discarded, rejected, unwanted, surplus or abandoned substance, or  
    
3. any otherwise discarded, rejected, unwanted, surplus or abandoned substance intended for sale or for recycling, processing, recovery or purification by a separate operation from that which produced the substance, or 
    
4. any processed, recycled, re-used or recovered substance produced wholly or partly from waste that is applied to land, or used as fuel, but only in the circumstances prescribed by the regulations, or 
    
5. any substance prescribed by the regulations to be waste.

A substance is not precluded from being waste for the purposes of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 merely because it is or may be processed, recycled, re-used or recovered.

Waste facility - any premises used for the storage, treatment, reprocessing, sorting or disposal of waste.

Waste levy - see [waste] Contribution

WCMR - Waste Contributions Monthly Report (see About waste reporting).

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X

Y

Z