There should be no need to use a clothes dryer on a sunny day, but it can be essential for Tracey Butler.

The odour emitted into the air from dump sites near her Ipswich home can leave laundry smelling worse than before it was washed.

"It's not fair to us because we don't get the privilege of fresh air every day," Mrs Butler said.

When it is around, her home must also be sealed from the air outside otherwise, "the stink" will get inside.

Rather than enjoying fresh air blowing into her house, air conditioners and fans run at an expense.

However, the cost is insignificant compared to its effect on her family life.

"Thank goodness we don't have young children that live with us because our power bill would be astronomical," she said.

"Some days, it's a rotten egg smell. Other days, it can be chemical, like a chemical toxic smell that absolutely takes your breath away."

Uncertainty about when the pungent smell will arrive means outdoor activities are consistently monitored.

Barbecues are cancelled, and the backyard trampoline is off-limits to her grandkids when the unpleasant aroma is present.

"And I have to get them in and quickly shut the garage door because otherwise, they start to feel sick."

Recommendations accepted

After last year's floods, odour emissions from waste facilities in Ipswich were amplified.

This prompted the then environment minister Meaghan Scanlon to order a review of the powers and penalties under the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

The independent review was conducted by retired judge Richard Jones and former senior crown prosecutor Susan Hedge, who considered if current laws have adequate compliance powers and appropriate penalties to protect the environment and community from environmental harm.

The review made 18 recommendations, including adding the concept of "human health, safety and wellbeing" in the definitions of environment and environmental value.

Certain emissions, such as odour, may also be considered material or serious environmental harm.

Recommendations also included that "consideration should be given to creating an offence for breaching the general environmental duty".

The Palaszczuk Government has supported or given in principle support all recommendations.

Once the recommendations are passed into law, the environmental regulator can take more decisive action against environmental nuisance.

'Noxious odours'

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the council had pushed for "greater oversight" of private waste operators. 

"Ipswich residents have been suffering through odour issue for years and continue to do so, so the recommendations of this review cannot come quick enough for our impacted communities."