Guideline to the Waste Management Plan - Department of Housing ...

GUIDELINE 

Waste Management Plan 2012-2014 

Department of Housing and Public Works

Guideline to Waste Management Plan 2012-2014 Page 2 of 16 

Guideline to the Waste Management Plan 

Contents 

page 

1. Purpose of Guideline 3 

2. Aim of the Waste Management Plan 3 

3. Legislative Basis for Waste Management 3 

4. Principles of Waste Management 3 

5. Waste Management in Practice 4 

6. The Waste Management Plan 5 

7. Responsibilities of Service Areas 5 

8. Reporting 6 

9. Director-General Approval 7 

Appendices 

1. Summary: Responsibilities of Service Areas 

2. Simple example of a Waste Management Plan 

3. Glossary of Terms 

Technical Services April 2013


1 Purpose of Guideline 

This guideline provides background and explanatory information to the Department of 

Housing and Public Works Waste Management Plan 2012-2014. 

2 Aim of the Waste Management Plan 

The department’s Waste Management Plan aims to: 

• foster a culture that recognises ‘waste’ as a resource and recognises the importance 

of resource recovery either by avoidance, reduction, reuse, or recycling of unwanted 

or surplus materials and products; 

• foster a consistent philosophy and approach across the diverse service areas of the 

Department of Housing and Public Works; and 

• comply with Queensland legislation and government policy (as outlined below). 

3 Legislative Basis for Waste Management 

The Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 (the Act), which received Royal Assent on 

28 October 2011, imposed a requirement on each Queensland government department to 

develop a new waste reduction and recycling plan and to report on waste management 

achievements under the plan. 

Previously, the obligation on a department to develop and implement a waste management 

plan was embedded in Sections 35 to 40 of the Environmental Protection (Waste 

Management) Policy 2000 (the Policy), which was subordinate legislation to the 

Environmental Protection Act 1994. The Policy was repealed when the new Act was 

introduced. 

However, due to major proposed amendments to the Act and to Queensland’s Waste 

Reduction and Recycling Strategy 2010-2020 which supports it, the deadline for the 

development of a new waste reduction and recycling plan (originally intended to be 1 

December 2012) has been deferred until 1 July 2014 and the new reporting requirements 

deferred until August 2015. 

In the interim, transitional arrangements are in place whereby the requirements for the 

development of a waste plan and for reporting on waste management under the previous 

Policy remain in place until 30 June 2014. 

4 Principles of Waste Management 

The waste management hierarchy outlines waste management practices to achieve the 

best environmental outcome, listed in the preferred order of adoption: 

• waste avoidance - practices which prevent the generation of waste altogether 

• waste reduction - practices which reduce waste produced 

• waste segregation – separation of wastes making them useable or less difficult to 

dispose of 

• waste reuse - direct reuse of waste materials for the same grade of use 



• waste recycling or reclamation – use of valuable components of waste in other 

processes. 

5 Waste Management in Practice 

The following examples of good practice illustrate the above principles. 

Office practices applicable to individual service areas of the department include: 

Avoidance: 

• Printing documents double-sided to reduce paper usage 

• Using email and other electronic means of communication and storage to minimise 

use of hard copies where practical and cost effective while being in accordance with 

departmental records management policy 

• Separating recyclable materials from general waste to reduce quantity going to 

landfill 

• Purchasing/using printers/photocopiers with duplexing capability where practicable 

• Fitting movement sensor switches to lighting to reduce energy consumption 

• Installing energy efficient lighting systems 

• Switching off non-essential electrical equipment, e.g. PCs, at the end of the day 

• Using recycled paper to preserve natural resources. 

Reuse: 

• Using waste blank paper for note taking in place of new note pads 

• Reusing folders, file covers and similar items. 

Recycling: 

• Recycling toner cartridges for photocopiers and printers (use of refillable toner 

cartridges is inadvisable if the practice voids manufacturer’s warranty) 

• Placing recycling receptacles at desks, printers, copiers 

• Placing bins in tea rooms (or other designated locations) for recycling of empty 

glass, steel, aluminium, plastic products 

• Arranging for packaging (eg pallets, cartons, etc) to be recycled by relevant 

organisations. 



Specialist practices 

Apart from the office practices which apply to all service areas of the department, there are 

also more specialist measures which are managed by relevant service areas in accordance 

with their core activities. Some examples are: 

Avoidance: 

• Managing work and disposal practices for hazardous materials, for example 

managing asbestos-containing materials in accordance with whole-of-Government 

Asbestos Management and Control Policy for Government Buildings - QBuild, 

Project Services (Building and Asset Services after 1 July 2013), Technical Services 

• Promoting the use of ecologically sustainable fit out guidelines in all office fitouts – 

Accommodation Office 

• Recycling or reuse of surplus materials on construction/demolition sites – Project 

Services, QBuild (Building and Asset Services after 1 July 2013). 

Reuse: 

• Composting green waste generated at nurseries for use on outdoor landscaped 

areas – QBuild (Building and Asset Services after 1 July 2013) 

• Managing reuse of surplus materials on construction/demolition sites – Project 

Services, QBuild (Building and Asset Services after 1 July 2013). 

Recycling: 

• Managing recycling of surplus materials on construction/demolition sites – Project 

Services, QBuild (Building and Asset Services after 1 July 2013) 

• Promoting specific recycling initiatives – Accommodation Office, Project Services, 

QBuild (Building and Asset Services after 1 July 2013), Technical Services, 

QGCPO. 

6 The Waste Management Plan 

The Waste Management Plan 2012-2014 is based around five main objectives, with each 

objective having a small number of strategies to guide approaches to achieving those 

objectives. 

The Plan acts as a concise generic template to which further detail can be added to form a 

specific waste management action plan tailored to the core functions of an individual 

service area if required. Each strategy can be further elaborated upon by specific activities, 

as illustrated by a Service Area Waste Management Action Plan template provided as an 

appendix to the Waste Management Plan. 

7 Responsibilities of Service Areas 

Generally, each individual service area in the department is required to monitor and record 

its own waste management activities in accordance with the objectives and strategies 

outlined in the departmental Waste Management Plan. 

A table summarising the responsibilities of individual service areas for each strategy within 

each objective as per the Waste Management Plan is provided as Appendix 1. 



It is the responsibility of ALL individual service areas to contribute to the management of 

standard office waste by adopting basic office practices or procedures (as in Section 5 

above) with the aim of minimising the use of office resources and energy and optimising 

recovery of resources. A common-sense approach should be taken to focus primarily on 

readily available, practical and cost-effective measures to minimise office waste. The 

Accommodation Office has ultimate responsibility for office waste management. 

With respect to specialist practices within the department which generate non-office waste, 

relevant service areas have a responsibility to ensure that these wastes also are minimised. 

These areas include construction and demolition waste (QBuild and Project Services 

[Building and Asset Services after 1 July 2013]), and vehicles (QFleet). 

In view of the diversity of operational activities carried out over a range of service areas in 

this department, there will be differing emphases placed on various objectives and 

strategies depending on the core activities of the individual service area. Reporting on 

waste management activities is the responsibility of the Executive Director, General 

Manager, Director or equivalent Head of an individual service area, subject to endorsement 

by the relevant Deputy Director-General or Assistant Director-General. 

A template is provided as an appendix to the Waste Management Plan 2012-2014. This 

provides a suggested framework for recording waste reduction activities, although its use is 

discretionary since it may not be readily applicable to all service areas. 

For reference, a simple example of a Service Area Waste Management Action Plan 

(Service Area XX) showing sample entries applicable to office waste is provided as 

Appendix 2. Not every strategy will apply equally to every service area, and for some 

strategies a ‘not applicable’ entry is appropriate. 

Given that departments have a future requirement to measure their performance of waste 

reduction under the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011, service areas are 

encouraged to use quantitative measures where practicable or plan to introduce these in 

the near future where possible. 

8 Reporting 

Each service area is expected to provide input to the department’s achievements with 

respect to waste management annually by providing a summary of waste reduction 

practices and initiatives to their relevant Office of Deputy Director-General or Assistant 

Director-General by late June each year for approval and forwarding to Technical Services 

by 30 June for collation. 

Technical Services will then prepare a departmental waste management report to be 

forwarded to Communication Services for inclusion in the department’s Annual Report in 

accordance with the department’s legislative obligations. 



9 Director-General Approval 

Neil Castles Date: 29 April 2013 

Director-General 



Appendix 1 

SUMMARY: RESPONSIBILITIES OF SERVICE AREAS 

The following table provides a summary of the responsibility of service areas for each 

strategy within each objective as per the Waste Management Plan. 

Objective Strategy Responsible 

Service Area 

Notes 

Compliance 

Awareness of 

obligations 

Technical 

Services 

Promotion 

Develop waste 

management strategies 

and summaries 

All 

A requirement for individual 

service areas on an annual 

basis, usually for the year 

to 30 June. The initial 

summary due late June 

2013 will be for the 

shortened period January 

2013 to 30 June 2013. 

Monitor and review 

strategies, practices, 

systems 

All 

A process usually carried 

out at the end of a financial 

year guided by feedback 

on what is or is not 

practical to achieve 

Information 

Collect information 

All 

This refers to information 

collected during the 

relevant reporting period 

Monitor progress 

All 

- 

Review information; 

use quantitative 

information where 

possible 

All 

A process most likely done 

at the end of the reporting 

period (i.e. June) based on 

experience of what 

information can or cannot 

be readily obtained 

Waste 

reduction 

Promote reuse and/or 

recycling of project 

waste 

Project 

Services 1 

QBuild 1 

PMO 

Onsite management and 

reporting processes to be 

introduced aiming to 

measure project 

construction waste 

avoidance/recycling/reuse 



Objective Strategy Responsible 

Service Area 

Notes 

for project activity for 

DHPW owned or controlled 

assets in the year to 30 

June 20yy 

Recycling office 

materials 

Accommodation 

Office 

QBuild 1 

All 

Accommodation Office is 

working with QBuild to 

improve processes for 

capture of office waste 

information, including 

component of recycled 

waste diverted from landfill. 

Recycling all/specialist 

assets 

Project 

Services 1 

Construction materials; 

vehicles; office equipment 

QBuild 1 

PMO 

QGCPO 

Accommodation 

Office 

Awareness 

Communication 

All 

Appropriate communication 

measures 

Monitor, coordinate 

All 

- 

Technical 

Services 

Research and 

development 

Initiatives 

Project 

Services 1 

- 

QBuild 1 

PMO 

Industry relations 

Project 

Services 1 

- 

QBuild 1 

PMO 

1 

Building and Asset Services (BAS) from 1 July 2013. 



Appendix 2 

EXAMPLE 

WASTE MANAGEMENT ACTION PLAN 



Department of Housing and Public Works 

Service Area XX 

Waste Management Action 

Plan 

June 20yy 



TYPE EXAMPLE FOR AN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE AREA (OFFICE FUNCTIONS) 

DHPW – Service Area XX Waste Management Action Plan 

Departmental Objective 1. 

Compliance with current whole-of-Government waste management legislation and policy 

Strategy Activities Resources Target Timeframe Performance 

1.1 Promote awareness 

of waste management 

obligations 

1.1.1 - - - - - 

1.1.2 

1.1.3 

1.2 Develop waste 

management strategies 

and summaries 

1.2.1 Strategy 

development 

Manager in 

conjunction with 

designated admin 

officer 

2012/2013 Completion 

1.2.2 Strategy 

implementation 

All 

By end June 

2013 

Completion 

1.2.3 

1.3 Monitor and review 

strategies, practices, 

procedures and/or 

systems 

1.3.1 Monitoring program Manager in 




Ongoing to 

June 2013 

Completion 

1.3.2 Review Manager in 




June 2013 

Completion 

1.3.3 





To collect and assess appropriate information and support continuous improvement 


2.1 Collect baseline 

waste management 

information deemed 

appropriate and 

practicable 

2.1.1 Plan information 

collection 

Manager in 




2.1.2 Collect information Designated admin 

officer/all 

ASAP in 2012- 

13 year 

Ongoing to 

June 2013 

Completion of 

plan 

Completion 

2.1.3 

2.2 Monitor progress over 

time and report on 

performance 

2.2.1 Monitoring program Manager in 




Ongoing or at 

agreed intervals 

to June 2013 

Completion 

2.2.2 

2.2.3 

2.3 Regularly review 

development of 

information collection and 

analysis while committing 

to the use of quantitative 

information where 

possible 

2.3.1 Review Manager in 




2.3.2 

2.3.3 

June 2013 

Completion 





To reduce waste generation and optimise resource recovery 


3.1 Actively promote 

reduction of construction 

and demolition waste on 

DPW controlled projects 

3.1.1 N/A - -- - - 

3.1.2 

3.1.3 

3.2 Promote recycling of 

office equipment, office 

materials, paper and 

miscellaneous waste 

3.2.1 Meeting agenda 

item 

3.2.2 Double sided 

printing 

Manager/designated 

admin officer/all 

All staff 

Regular 

agenda 

item 

Reduce 

paper use 

Fortnightly 

update 

Ongoing 

Completion 

Reduction in 

paper use 

3.2.3 Toner cartridges 

recycled 

Relevant staff All recycled Ongoing All recycled 

3.2.4 Recycling bins 

usage 

All staff 

Greater use 

of recycling 

bins 

Ongoing 

Increased use of 

recycling bins 

3.3 Promote recycling of 3.3.1 N/A - - - - 

specialist equipment and 

assets used to support 

service delivery where 

appropriate 

3.3.2 

3.3.3 



DHPW - Service Area XX Waste Management Action Plan 


To increase staff awareness and knowledge of waste management principles and best practices 


4.1 Raise awareness 

through presentations, 

electronic 

communications and 

updates on waste 

management issues 

4.1.1 Fortnightly 

email 

4.1.2 

4.1.3 

Manager or 



All staff Fortnightly Emails read and 

acted on where 

possible 

4.2 Monitor and where 

appropriate coordinate 

department-wide 

awareness and 

knowledge activities and 

initiatives 

4.2.1 N/A - - - - 

4.2.2 

4.2.3 


To explore improved waste management opportunities through applied research and development 


5.1 Pursue initiatives 

which encourage DPW 

clients to improve 

waste management 

associated with their 

projects 

5.1.1 N/A - - - - 

5.1.2 

5.1.3 . 

5.2 Foster relationships 5.2.1 N/A - - - - 

with the recycling 

industry to monitor 

industry initiatives and 

developments 

5.2.2 

5.2.3 



Appendix 3 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS 

Best practice: A way or method of accomplishing a business function or process that is 

considered to be superior to all other known methods. 

Hazardous materials: means any liquid and non-liquid wastes (i.e. gas, liquid or solid) formally 

defined as ‘hazardous materials’ in section 12 of the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act 

2001 (Qld) and exhibit one or more of the following hazardous characteristics: toxicity, 

flammability,eactivity and/or corrosiveness. 

Recycling: is a process, by which waste material is collected, sorted, and then reprocessed or 

remanufactured to make a new product. 

Re-use: is a process by which waste, otherwise destined for landfill or destruction, is cleaned or 

repaired for use in a similar fashion to its original use, for the purposes of prolonging the original 

product lifetime. 

Waste: includes: 

(a) any substance (whether solid, liquid or gaseous) that is discharged, emitted or deposited in the 

environment in such a volume, constituency or manner as to cause an alteration in the 

environment, or 

(b) any discarded, rejected, unwanted, surplus or abandoned substance, or 

(c) any otherwise discarded, rejected, unwanted surplus, or abandoned substance intended for 

sale or for recycling, reprocessing, recovery or purification by a separate operation from that 

which produced the substance, or 

(d) any substance prescribed by the regulations to be waste. A substance is not precluded from 

being waste merely because it can be reprocessed, re-used or recycled. 

ACRONYMS 

QGCPO – Queensland Government Chief Procurement Office

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