Fees that could have cost waste exporters hundreds of thousands of dollars to send paper and cardboard overseas for recycling have been scrapped in a joint move between the Greens and the Coalition.

The parties have teamed up to waive fees that cost exporters about $13,500 each time they change a contract, which industry sources say could add up to four times a day if destinations, recyclable volumes and transport vessels are changing – although the government has maintained it will. only apply to substantial changes, such as exported waste.

The ministry also informed the industry in May that charges would be triggered in some cases, but in others, such as a change of waste supplier, they would not incur charges.

This decision constitutes a new blow by the Senate against the Minister of the Environment, Tanya Plibersek, who has so far failed to obtain support for her proposals for environmental laws.

Ms Plibersek said the Coalition and the Greens had joined forces “to make it easier to send Australian waste overseas and increase greenwashing”.

“The decision to allow the export of waste was made in 2019 by the Morrison Government alongside the states and territories. They also announced that the costs of regulating the export of waste would be a levy of the industry and not taxpayers,” Ms Plibersek said.

“Sussan Ley called it ‘historic’ and said it was ‘critical’ and a ‘good move for the economy and the environment’. Why did they change of opinion?”

Nationals and Greens senators say move to scrap metal fees was avoidable

Speaking on the disallowance motion, Nationals senator Ross Cadell said he wanted to avoid canceling the fee but the government had failed to cooperate.

“We’re not here out of joy saying, ‘It’s a great day, we rode something.’ It’s sad,” said Senator Cadell.

“It very easily could have not been implemented today, it could have disappeared into the ether.”

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said he would also have preferred to avoid the unusual move, but that it was a consequence of the government failing to listen to industry.

“These regulations have been unanimously rejected by the resource recovery and recycling sector, and supported by no one except Labor. Recyclers have repeatedly attempted to engage with the government to try to resolve the problems, without success,” the senator said.

“The rejection of these regulations is a problem the government itself is responsible for. The Greens have for months been calling on the government to meet with the resource recovery sector to resolve the issues surrounding the export licensing changes contained in these regulations. That didn’t happen.”

The senator said he hoped the disavowal would motivate the government to go back to the drawing board and reformulate the project.

Motion comes after urging Plibersek to meet with industry

A waste sector investigation has heard from industry that the variation fee, dubbed a ‘recycling tax’, would threaten to send more recyclables to landfill as it would cost less than sending them to the foreign for processing, and state regulations prevent their disposal in landfills. put in storage.

Gayle Sloan, boss of the waste management and resource recovery group, told the inquiry the charges were unfair because they only applied to products exported for recycling and did not apply to materials virgins, which disadvantaged the sector.

The sector has criticized a lack of communication from the Environment Ministry on how the fees will or will not apply to them.

The industry is largely supportive of the fees companies must pay to register to export, which began earlier this year.

But they say the prices for changing contracts are not only prohibitive, but the process can take up to six months – when they are often negotiated at short notice.

In a letter to the Environment Minister seen by the ABC, waste inquiry chair Peter Whish-Wilson noted that Senator Cadell’s motion to disallow was before the Senate and urged Ms Plibersek to s sit down with the industry before the November 20 deadline.

The Greens senator wrote that industry of all stripes had expressed concerns about the potential unintended consequences of the waste export rules, which could make some businesses unviable and impact recycling efforts.

He warned that “the lack of transparency regarding departmental or other costs covered by these variation charges also undermines confidence in the Government’s stated aims to work collaboratively to reduce waste and increase national recycling.”

A waste export “ban” was introduced by the Morrison government with the agreement of states and territories after China stopped accepting foreign waste and recyclables as part of its “free shipping” policy. national sword.

Export regulations limit what can be sent overseas for recycling and require prior approvals or exemptions to do so. But a lack of domestic infrastructure and local demand for recycled products has forced Australia to continue processing some recycled products overseas.

In May, the government agreed to abandon plans for an export levy on the industry – but the variation fee was kept in place and the final phase of regulating paper and cardboard began in October.