Waste is any material, substance, or byproduct discarded, unwanted, or useless after a process or activity. It can come from households, commercial, industrial, or construction activities, and take various forms, such as solid, liquid, or gaseous waste.

We manage waste to protect human health and environmental quality and to improve the efficient use of resources. Queensland’s management of waste is typically reported in terms of three source streams:

• household waste
• commercial and industrial waste
• construction and demolition waste.

Litter, illegal dumping and trackable waste are also source streams.
The effectiveness of the waste management sector is demonstrated in the resource recovery rates for relevant source streams. The amount of waste that has been recovered and disposed of is an indicator of the sustainability of society’s use of resources.

Litter and illegally dumped items are the most visible indicators of pollution in our environment. The waste from litter and illegal dumping can be present in both natural and built environments. This can reduce aesthetic values and visual amenity, reduce environmental values, cause significant harm to wildlife through ingestion or entanglement with waste, help spread pests and weeds, and degrade natural areas. The costs associated with this practice can include expenditure for prevention, compliance, clean up and disposal.

Waste tracking enables regulated waste to be tracked from its source to place of storage, recovery or disposal. This is to ensure all parties involved are managing waste responsibly and that the waste is transported and received by authorised waste handlers. Waste tracking prevents the inappropriate management of regulated waste and illegal waste dumping which could harm the environment.