Mr. Sean Murray:

Like my colleagues, I will go through highlights of my submission to the committee. The National Waste Collection Permit Office, NWCPO, was established since 1 February 2012. Section 34 of the Waste Management Act requires that any person collecting waste for profit, reward or otherwise in the course of business to hold a waste collection permit. They are obliged by law to do so. A total of 2,010 waste collection permits are extant. The primary role of my office is the processing of waste collection permit applications, the maintenance of the waste collection permit register and the ongoing administration of the permits.

The NWCPO is certified to ISO9001. The permit process involves an applicant completing an application form in a prescribed format. One of the major areas of relevance to the permit process and permit applications is that the person requiring a permit is a fit and proper person, as defined under section 34 D of the Waste Management Act. A person is not a fit and proper person where any one of the following applies: they have been convicted of a prescribed offence under environmental legislation; they do not have the requisite technical knowledge or qualifications to carry out the activity in accordance with the waste collection permit; they are not likely to be in a position to carry out and meet any commitments or liabilities that will arise; they have previously had a waste collection permit revoked; or the applicant has had a court order made against him or her under section 57 or 58 of the Act.

The permit granted includes a standardised set of conditions including: only authorising the collector to collect specified waste types; use specified waste facilities; use specified waste vehicles; and collect in a specified local authority area. Where breaches of waste collection permits occur the NWCPO does not enforce the conditions of the waste collection permits as this role rests with each individual local authority for their jurisdictional area. The office, however, works in conjunction with local authorities where non-compliance has been identified and can review and revoke waste collection permits as deemed appropriate.

The office relies on the local investigations undertaken by local authorities in determining the review of a waste collection permit. Local authorities can issue fixed payment notices for breaches of specified permit conditions and issue warnings or enforcement notices where other breaches are identified. These are all based on the Act.

Where the NWCPO reviews a waste collection permit, this review can result in a direction to take corrective measures or the complete revocation of a waste collection permit. A permit can be revoked where a permit holder is no longer deemed to be a fit and proper person, as defined in the Act, to hold a permit.