1Short title
This is the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007.
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Bill homepageThis is the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007.
This Act comes into operation as follows:
sections 1 and 2 — on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent;
the rest of the Act — on a day fixed by proclamation, and different days may be fixed for different provisions.
In this Act unless the contrary intention appears —
approved product stewardship plan means a product stewardship plan registered under section 45(3);
business plan means a business plan approved under section 39;
CEO means chief executive officer of the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of this Act;
Chief Health Officer has the meaning given in the Public Health Act 2016 section 4(1);
district means an area that has been declared to be a district under the Local Government Act 1995, and any place outside the boundaries of the district which is under the control of the local government for the district;
entity means any person or body, including a public authority;
EP Act means the Environmental Protection Act 1986;
EP authorisation means a licence, permit or approval granted under the EP Act;
extended producer responsibility scheme means a scheme for giving effect to a policy in which the producer’s responsibility for a product (including physical or financial responsibility) is extended to the post‑consumer stage of the product’s life‑cycle;
inspector means an inspector appointed under the EP Act section 88 for the purposes of this Act and includes the CEO;
levy means a levy imposed under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Levy Act 2007;
local government includes a regional local government established for the purpose of providing waste services;
local government waste means —
waste from residential sources; and
any other waste of a kind prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph,
but does not include sewage or waste of a kind prescribed by the regulations as excluded for the purposes of this definition;
member means a member of the Waste Authority appointed under section 11(1);
producer of a product includes a manufacturer, importer, supplier or distributor, of the product in this State or an entity having a proprietary interest in the name under which the product is manufactured, imported, supplied or distributed in this State;
product stewardship plan means a plan in which the producers of a product —
share responsibility with governments and consumers for the environmental impact of the product throughout its use, including end of use management; and
seek to reduce the adverse environmental impact of the product;
public authority means —
an agency or organisation as those terms are defined in the Public Sector Management Act 1994; or
a body, corporate or unincorporate, that is established or continued for a public purpose by the State, regardless of the way it is established; or
a local government;
WARR Account means the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Account established by section 79;
waste includes matter —
whether liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive and whether useful or useless, which is discharged into the environment; or
prescribed by the regulations to be waste;
Waste Authority means the Waste Authority established by section 8;
waste collection permit has the meaning given by section 56(1);
waste facility means premises used for the storage, treatment, processing, sorting, recycling or disposal of waste;
waste service means —
the collection, transport, storage, treatment, processing, sorting, recycling or disposal of waste; or
the provision of receptacles for the temporary deposit of waste; or
the provision and management of waste facilities, machinery for the disposal of waste and processes for dealing with waste;
waste strategy means the waste strategy approved and in force under Part 4 Division 1.
If a term has a meaning in the EP Act, it has the same meaning in this Act unless the contrary intention appears in this Act.
[Section 3 amended: No. 19 of 2016 s. 200.]
This Act binds the State and, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
The primary objects of this Act are to contribute to sustainability, and the protection of human health and the environment, in Western Australia and the move towards a waste‑free society by —
promoting the most efficient use of resources, including resource recovery and waste avoidance; and
reducing environmental harm, including pollution through waste; and
the consideration of resource management options against the following hierarchy —
avoidance of unnecessary resource consumption;
resource recovery (including reuse, reprocessing, recycling and energy recovery);
disposal.
The principles set out in the EP Act section 4A apply in relation to the objects of this Act.
Except as specifically provided by this Act, the provisions of this Act are complementary to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law of the State.
Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), this Act is not to be construed so as to prevent a person from being prosecuted under any other enactment for an offence punishable by this Act, or from being liable under any other law of the State to any other or higher penalty or punishment than is provided for the offence by this Act.
Nothing in this section affects the operation of the Sentencing Act 1995 section 11.
Nothing in this Act in any way affects any right any entity has at law to prevent, control or abate pollution or environmental harm or obtain damages.
Nothing in this Act limits the functions of the Chief Health Officer under the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1911 or the Public Health Act 2016.
The regulations may set out circumstances in which the CEO or the Waste Authority must consult the Chief Health Officer with respect to a decision that the CEO or Waste Authority proposes to make under this Act.
[Section 7 amended: No. 19 of 2016 s. 201 and 337.]
A body called the Waste Authority is established.
The Waste Authority is an agent of the State and has the status, immunities and privileges of the State.
In addition to its statutory name, the Waste Authority may use and operate under any other name approved by the Minister.
Notice of an approval under subsection (1) must be published in the Gazette.
The Waste Authority must comprise 5 members appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Minister.
The members are to be persons who, in the opinion of the Minister —
have skill, experience and knowledge in matters relating to sustainability, waste services, or waste avoidance and resource recovery; or
have a particular function or vocational interest relevant to the functions of the Waste Authority,
and who, in the opinion of the Minister, are able to make a contribution to the functions of the Waste Authority.
Before making a recommendation under subsection (1) the Minister must publish in a daily newspaper circulating throughout the State a notice calling for expressions of interest in appointment to the office of member.
The Minister must consider expressions of interest lodged in accordance with the notice but may make a recommendation under subsection (1) whether or not the person recommended has lodged an expression of interest.
A member must not be a person who is employed in the Public Service under the Public Sector Management Act 1994 Part 3.
One of the members is to be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Minister to be the chairman of the Waste Authority and another to be the deputy chairman of the Waste Authority.
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