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Record-keeping requirements

What records are required?     

All scheduled waste facilities that are required to pay the waste and environment levy are required to provide OEH with a waste contributions monthly report (WCMR) in order to verify the facility's waste and environment levy liability and to report exemptions or deductions. Monthly reports must be provided to OEH in the approved form within 60 days after the end of each month and must include information for that month on:

• the quantity of waste received at the facility;
• the types of waste received at the facility; and
• any other information specified by OEH.

In addition to providing monthly reports to OEH, scheduled waste facilities are required under the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005 to maintain general records for audit purposes. Details on the information that must be included in these records is set out below.

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What information needs to be recorded?

Scheduled waste facilities that are required to pay the waste and environment levy must maintain records on all waste and other material (e.g. non-waste material that might be mixed or blended with waste) received by the facility, used by the facility on-site or transported from the facility for reuse, recycling/processing or disposal. Records must include all of the following information:

1.  For waste and other material received at the facility

For all waste and other material received at the facility you must record:

• the amount (in tonnes) and type of waste and other material delivered (this should include the relevant material composition code/s);
• the date the waste/other material was delivered;
• the registration number of any vehicle delivering the waste and other material to the facility;
• where on the site the waste/other material was placed (for example, the relevant stockpile number); 
• where the waste has a community service, biological outbreak or natural disaster exemption:
• details of the community service, activity, biological outbreak or natural disaster; and
• date and number of OEH approval for the exemption.

2.  For waste used on-site at the facility

For all waste used on-site for an approved operational purpose (AOP) you must record:

• the nature of the AOP for which the waste was used;
• particulars of any approval or certificate issued by OEH relating to the use of waste for an AOP;
• the amount (in tonnes) and type of waste used for an AOP; and
• the date the waste was used for an AOP.

3.  For waste and other material stockpiled at the facility

For all waste and other material stockpiled at the facility you must record:

• a stockpile identification number;
• the amount (in tonnes) and type of waste and other material held in each stockpile as at 30 June and 31 December of each year; and
• the amount and type of waste or other material added to or removed from the stockpile on a daily basis.

4.  For waste and other material transported from the facility  

For all waste that has been processed, recovered or recycled by the facility and transported to another place for lawful use, or transported to another place for lawful recovery, recycling or processing or transported to another facility for lawful disposal you must record:

• the amount (in tonnes) and type of waste, waste-derived material, and other material contained in the load that was transported from the facility;
• the date the waste, waste-derived material, and other material was transported from the facility;
• details of the recycling, mixing, blending or processing applied to the waste leaving the facility, including the composition (as a proportion of waste and other material) of any waste-derived material in the load;
• the registration number of the vehicle that transported the waste, waste-derived material, and other material; and
• the address of the place to which the waste was transported.

5.  For waste eligible for an exemption

In addition to the (relevant) requirements above, for all waste that is eligible for an exemption you must record the details outlined in Clause 10 (2) of the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005, which include:

• the amount (in tonnes) and type of exempted waste retained at the facility;
• details of any process (e.g. treatment or recycling) applied the exempted waste and the date this occurred.
• details of what happened to the exempted waste (e.g. disposed of, treated, recycled or processed); and the date this occurred.

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Recording unweighed waste

From 1 September 2006, licensed waste facilities that are required to pay the levy and that receive more than 10,000 tonnes of waste per year are required to install a OEH-approved weighbridge. Where a weighbridge is installed, records of all waste and other material entering and leaving the facility should be based on the quantities (in tonnes) recorded by the weighbridge.

Where a facility does not have a weighbridge installed, or where the waste arrives at a facility via a small vehicle such as a car or ute, the weight conversion factors must be used to record the amount of waste and other material that enters or leaves a facility.

Failure to keep records

All records are liable to periodic audit by OEH officers. If records have not been maintained as required by the Regulation, or claims are found to be false, then deductions or exemptions already granted to the facility may need to be repaid to OEH. Penalty infringement notices (also known as on-the-spot-fines) may be issued, or prosecution action may be taken, if appropriate.

Where inadequate records have been kept by a facility, the OEH may estimate the tonnage of waste received by a facility by using any information available, such as volumetric surveys, other facility records and information provided by OEH officers that have inspected the facility. This estimate will be used to determine a waste facility's levy liability.

How long should records be retained?

The occupier of the licensed waste facility must retain all records for at least 3 years from the date that the record is made, or, in relation to waste for which an exemption was claimed, 3 years from the date that the exemption is claimed.