Toowoomba waste levy change saves community about $3 million a year

Toowoomba Regional Council says the Region’s transition into the regional waste levy zone is saving the community approximately $3 million a year, with the benefit reported in the council’s 2025/26 advocacy results.

The change was included in the 2025/26 Operational Plan Progress Report considered by the Corporate Services Committee on 11 August. The committee recommended that Council note organisational performance for the 12 months to 30 June 2026.

Council’s draft Waste Management Strategy 2021 and Waste Infrastructure Plan 2020 remain under review and are being updated where necessary. The strategy is to be presented to Council after the Queensland Government releases its Waste Strategy and associated waste levy framework.

That framework will guide the next stage of the council’s waste policy. No timing for its release was given in the report.

The operational report said Council services were generally delivered within adopted budgets or at established service levels. Operational expenditure was within 1.46 per cent of the original adopted annual expenditure budget, subject to end-of-year adjustments.

The report also said Council had successfully advocated for the State Government to match the Public Transport Levy, reducing the financial burden on taxpayers while supporting public transport services across the Region.

The committee’s recommendation covered the full operational report, rather than a separate vote on the waste levy change. The supplied record does not state whether Council had formally adopted the recommendation by the time of publication.

For residents, ratepayers, businesses and waste operators, the levy-zone transition provides an estimated annual saving. Future changes to the Region’s waste planning remain dependent on the Queensland Government’s waste strategy and levy framework.