The Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has launched a statewide inspection blitz targeting 50 skip bin companies as part of efforts to crack down on illegal waste dumping.
EPA officers are examining waste handling and record-keeping practices at the targeted premises, while looking for evidence of unlawful waste management, storage or disposal.
The action forms part of the Victorian Government’s multi-agency Illegal Waste Dumping Taskforce, which has identified rogue skip bin operators as major contributors to illegal dumping, particularly involving construction and demolition waste.
According to the EPA, illegal dumping can contaminate public and private land, create fire hazards and leave costly clean-up bills.
Victoria’s environmental laws require waste to be taken to a facility authorised by the EPA to receive and manage it safely. Waste transporters must also ensure the facilities they use are permitted to accept the type of waste being transported.
EPA Executive Director of Operations Rachel Gualano said legitimate skip bin operators played an important role in the waste industry, but warned that operators failing to meet their obligations could face regulatory action.
“Skip bins are a common collection point for many types of waste, and operators have a legal duty to know what’s in the bins they’re transporting, and to make sure that waste ends up in an authorised facility,” Gualano said.
The EPA said it routinely traces waste through the supply chain using documentation, serial numbers and other forensic methods.
It can fine or prosecute skip bin companies, individuals or businesses that engage their services, and those that unlawfully receive waste.
The latest blitz follows a compliance operation across Victoria’s southwest earlier this year, where more than half of the sites inspected did not have the required EPA permissions to operate.
Gualano said operators attempting to undercut legitimate businesses through illegal dumping could expect regulatory action.
The Illegal Waste Dumping Taskforce is led by EPA Victoria and includes the Conservation Regulator, Parks Victoria and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
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