Queensland waste company to fight allegations of nuisance odours

NuGrow to fight charges of nuisance odours from Ipswich facilityCBy Charlie McLeanTopic:Courts16m ago16 minutes agoTue 28 Apr 2026 at 8:27amNuGrow is intending to fight charges of nuisance odours emanating from its Ipswich recycling facility. (Supplied)In short:Waste processing company NuGrow is intending to fight charges stemming from alleged nuisance odours emanating from their Swanbank facility in Ipswich.Lawyers for Queensland's Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation told the ABC the company had indicated it would plead guilty but had now decided to fight the charges.What's next?The trial has been set for a two-week hearing starting September 21.abc.net.au/news/nugrow-ipswich-nuisance-odours-court-battle/106617934Link copiedShareShare articleWaste recycling company NuGrow will fight 11 environmental nuisance charges relating to its Swanbank food recycling plant in a two-week trial later this year.Lawyers for Queensland's Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation told the ABC the company had indicated it would plead guilty but had now decided to fight the charges.They relate to alleged odours from NuGrow's Ipswich waste plant which converts food and plant scraps into compost and soils.Magistrate Dennis Kinsella told the court NuGrow's defence team would have to accept responsibility for delaying the progress of the case."The matter has been previously listed … then it was delisted, and then it has been relisted as a sentence, and then that has also changed as a consequence of your client's position changing," Magistrate Kinsella said.NuGrow's Swanbank facility in Ipswich converts food and plant scraps into compost and soils. (Flickr: Nic McPhee)For years residents living near the facility in Swanbank, south-west of Brisbane, have complained about foul smells coming from the facility, previously compared to cat urine and rotten eggs.In 2023, the company was fined more than $45,000 for several breaches of the state's Environmental Protection Act.The breaches did not relate to odours.Company to challenge 'smells' expertAt a case management hearing in the Ipswich Magistrates Court, lawyers for NuGrow said they would be challenging the evidence of a prosecution expert in "smells" and "sources of smells".NuGrow's legal team told the court it would argue this was a "novel" area of expertise and would not meet the required evidence threshold."The defendant's position is that the causal location of an odour is not an area of accepted expertise," NuGrow's counsel said.Waste companies under scrutinyWaste operations in the Swanbank area are under heightened scrutiny following a public health inquiry launched after decades of community action.Late last year the inquiry found odours generated at Ipswich's industrial waste areas were "highly offensive" and having a negative impact on residents' health and wellbeing.Waste operations in the area were the subject of a public health inquiry. (ABC Wide Bay: Pat Heagney)In 2024 waste operator Cleanaway was fined more than $600,000 after pleading guilty to seven environmental odour nuisance offences.The Queensland government has accepted all of the inquiry's eight recommendations, including auditing all odour-producing companies in the Swanbank industrial areas, and the development of odour management plans for each of them.The NuGrow trial is expected to commence on September 21.Posted 16m ago16 minutes agoTue 28 Apr 2026 at 8:27amShare optionsCopy…

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