When you apply for a licence to export waste paper and cardboard, you are assessed against the matters set out in the:
- Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 (RaWR Act)
- Recycling and Waste Reduction (Export – Waste Paper and Cardboard) Rules 2024 (Paper Cardboard Rules).
You must provide the following information in your application, otherwise your application may be invalid and could be cancelled.
How you meet the 5% contamination limit
You must show whether you have the capacity to ensure the total weight of contaminants in each consignment of waste paper and cardboard doesn’t exceed 5% of its total weight.
Evidence to provide
A strategy for ensuring that every consignment meets the 5% limit. This could be a combination of:
- Audit and inspection processes. Include details of audits of your facilities and your consignments, by you or a third party. Include information such as audit frequency, processes and results, and how you keep records.
- Quality assurance (QA) programs. Include information on any other QA systems and checks controlling contamination. In the event you secure additional suppliers, how you will ensure they meet the 5% contamination limit.
- Sorting and processing facilities. Include the capability of your facilities and equipment to produce paper with contamination below 5%. If you use suppliers, include details of their facilities too. You may include captioned photos, machinery descriptions and processing steps.
- Any other evidence demonstrating how you will ensure consignments exported from 1 July 2026 meet the 5% contamination limit.
How you secure commercial relationships
You must show whether you have the capacity to secure a commercial relationship with:
- your suppliers at the time of export
- your importers or end-users at the time of export.
Evidence to provide
If you rely on another party (your supplier) to remove contamination, you must provide evidence of an existing or potential relationship with this supplier. This could include correspondence with the supplier relating to sourcing waste paper and cardboard, such as:
- emails
- letters
- purchase orders
- sales contracts.
You must provide evidence of an existing or potential relationship with your importers or end-users. This can include correspondence with the importer or end-user relating to sourcing waste paper and cardboard, such as:
- emails
- letters
- purchase orders
- sales contracts.
Find out more about applying for a licence.
Contact us
WELD portal: if you have a WELD portal account, contact us via ‘My messages’
Email: exportwaste@nationalepa.gov.au
Phone: 1800 976 422