Queensland sets 65 pc recycling target as waste outstrips growth

The Queensland government has announced a new waste strategy. (ABC News: Chris Gillette)

The Queensland government's waste plan includes a target to reduce waste sent to landfill by 65 per cent over the next 10 years.

Queensland generated almost 10.25 million tonnes of waste last financial year.

The government is yet to unveil changes to waste levies, but says any increase will not flow on to households.

The Queensland government is rolling out a new recycling target and giving councils and industry almost half a billion dollars in a bid to curb the amount of rubbish going to landfill.

Environment Minister Andrew Powell will unveil the government's new waste strategy on Wednesday, which includes a statewide recycling target of 65 per cent by 2035.

The plan also calls for a 65 per cent reduction in waste to landfill over the next decade, compared with the baseline level in Queensland in 2019-20.

The amount of waste generated in Queensland increased 4.5 per cent last financial year. (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)

The move is accompanied by specific targets for the state's south-east as well as major regional communities, including Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay.

In the south-east, the government wants waste sent to landfill to fall by 70 per cent over 10 years, while in the major regional hubs it wants a 50 per cent drop.

For the rest of the state, such as in rural and remote areas, the goal is to maintain the current amount of rubbish disposed of in landfill.

Mr Powell said the government had developed targets that reflected the needs of communities across Queensland.

"This strategy is about doing what we said we would do; reducing landfill, increasing recycling and investing in the infrastructure Queensland needs for the future," he said.

"The Crisafulli government knows that what works in south-east Queensland won't always work in regional Queensland."

Last financial year, Queensland generated almost 10.25 million tonnes of waste, a 4.5 per cent jump from the year before, outstripping population growth.

Andrew Powell says targets are different in the south-east and rural Queensland. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)

The new plan replaces a previous strategy from the former government, which aimed for 65 per cent of waste to be diverted from landfill by 2025.

The old plan also set a target to have recycling rates at 60 per cent by the same year.

According to the most recent waste survey for the 2024–25 financial year, Queensland's resource recovery rate was sitting at about 58 per cent, which is short of that goal.

The old plan also included