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The information contained in this fact sheet is current as at 18 September 2006.

Topic 3 - Pollution

3.3 Waste Management

Waste management activities are an important means for recovering resources and reducing waste. Waste management activities may also cause environmental impacts in their own right.

This section considers the legal framework governing the following waste management issues:

• waste minimisation and resource recovery;
• licensing of waste management facilities and activities; and
• development assessment of waste management activities.

3.3.1. Waste Minimisation and Resource Recovery

The Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001 sets out the priorities and the methods by which waste reduction is to be achieved. The aims of this piece of legislation are:

• to minimise the consumption of natural resources;
• to encourage resource recovery, including reuse, recycling and energy recovery;
• to provide for the continual reduction in waste generation; and
• to minimise the final disposal of waste.1

‘Waste' is defined to include:

• any substance (whether solid, liquid or gas) that is discharged or deposited in a way that causes an alteration in the environment; or
• any discarded, rejected, unwanted, surplus, or abandoned substance, including substances intended for sale, recycling, reprocessing, recovery, or purification by a separate operation from that which produced the substance.2

The Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act provides for specific targets for waste reduction and resource recovery to be adopted in a waste strategy.3 The current target aims to hold the total amount of waste generated in New South Wales to 2000 levels until 2008.4

Principal responsibility for regulating waste management in New South Wales lies with the Environment Protection Authority.5 The Minister for the Environment administers the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act.6 The EPA can issue licences to operators of waste facilities and transporters of waste.7

The Waste Recycling and Processing Corporation of New South Wales is responsible for the operation of the majority of waste facilities located in the Sydney region.8 Outside the Sydney region, the majority of waste facility operations are run by local councils. Waste facilities may also be run by private operators under licence from the EPA.

Domestic and trade waste discharged into sewer systems is the responsibility of Sydney Water in the Sydney and Wollongong regions, the Hunter Water Corporation in the Newcastle area, and various other water supply authorities and councils in the rest of New South Wales. These organisations are licensed by the EPA to discharge sewage from their treatment plants.

The NSW Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2003 sets broad targets in the areas of waste prevention, resource recovery and re-use, use and disposal of toxic substances and the prevention of littering and illegal dumping. The Department of Environment and Climate Change may require a local council to provide reasons for any failure to comply with the objectives of a current waste strategy.9

3.3.2. Licensing of Waste Management Activities

A pollution licence is required for ‘scheduled activities'. To determine whether an activity is a ‘scheduled activity', refer to Schedule 1 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act. See Section 3.1.1 – Environmental Protection Licences.10

Waste management activities listed in the schedule include:

• storage of hazardous waste, industrial waste or liquid waste;
• disposal of hazardous waste, industrial waste and certain other types of waste;
• landfill sites, tyre processing facilities and a number of other facilities;
• mobile waste processing; and
• transportation of hazardous, industrial and some other types of waste.11

A pollution licence may impose conditions relating to the storage, handling, treatment, processing, disposal and transportation of waste.12

If a waste site is used for the disposal of putrescible waste (food waste, animal waste, untreated sewage), a pollution licence may only be granted to a person other than a public authority if a public authority holds a supervisory licence for the facility.13

3.3.3. Non-Licensed Waste Management Activities

Occupiers of non-licensed commercial landfill sites (other than those solely used for receiving virgin excavated natural material) must provide their name, address and the location of the site to the EPA.14

Any person carrying out non-licensed commercial activities that involve the storage or generation of hazardous waste or industrial waste (with certain exceptions) must comply with specified handling, record keeping, reporting and transportation requirements in relation to the activities.15

Non-licensed transporters of waste must comply with specified handling obligations when transporting waste, ensure that the destination is a lawful waste facility, and advise the occupier of the receiving waste facility of the type of waste. The transporter must also comply with certain record keeping and reporting requirements.16

3.3.4. Waste Management Offences

Disposing of waste 'wilfully or negligently', in a manner that harms or is likely to harm the environment, is a serious offence (Tier 1) under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act.17 See Section 3.1.3 – Pollution Offences.

Owners of disposed waste that harms the environment may be found guilty of an offence unless they can show that such illegal dumping was due to causes that they had no control over, and that they took reasonable precautions to prevent the dumping.18

It is a strict liability (Tier 2) offence19 for a person to transport waste to a place that cannot be lawfully used as a waste facility.20 It is also a Tier 2 offence for an owner or occupier of land to allow the land to be used as a waste facility without lawful authority.21 See Section 3.1.3.4 - Classification of Offences.

To use land as a waste facility, an owner or occupier will generally need development consent (see below).

3.3.5. Development Consent for Waste Management Activities

A local environmental plan may provide that a waste management facility is permissible without consent, permissible with consent or prohibited. If consent is required, a development application must be lodged with the relevant consent authority.22

Larger waste management facilities may be 'designated development'.23 If a waste management facility is designated development, an environmental impact statement must accompany the development application,24 which must be advertised and publicly exhibited, and third party merits appeals are available.25 Most development applications for a waste management facility will also require a pollution licence, and will therefore constitute integrated development. See Section 2.1.2.- Development Assessment.

State Environmental Planning Policy No. 48 - Major Putrescible Landfill Sites applies to landfill sites that are used to dispose of putrescible waste, and have the capacity to receive more than 75,000 tonnes of waste each year, or more than 650,000 tonnes over the life of the site.26 Under this policy, all putrescible sites require development consent from the Minister for Planning, who must consult with the local council.27 The development application must be advertised and submissions accepted from the public.28

References

1. Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001, s. 3.
2. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, Dictionary, see ‘waste'.
3. Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001, Part 3, cl. 12; and Resource NSW (2003) Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy.
4. Resource NSW (2003) Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy.
5. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, s. 6(1).
6. Allocation of the Administration of Acts (No 2) 2004.
7. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, Part 3.1.
8. Waste Recycling and Processing Corporation Act 2001, Part 2.
9. Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001, ss. 12, 14.
10. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, Part 3.2. To determine whether an activity is a ‘scheduled activity', see Schedule 1 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Actwhich lists them. (see Section 3.1.1 – Environmental Protection Licences ) for more information.
11. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, Schedule 1. Hazardous waste is any type of waste specified in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Protection of the Environment Operations Act, or assessed and classified as hazardous under the EPA Guidelines for the Assessment, Classification and Management of Non-Liquid Wastes ( Waste Guidelines). Industrial waste is any type of waste specified in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the PEO Act, or assessed and classified as industrial under the Waste Guidelines.
12. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, s. 75.
13. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, s. 87.
14. Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 1996, cl. 15.
15. Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 1996, cl. 16.
16. Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 1996, cl. 17.
17. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, s.115.
18. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, Part 5.2, ss.115 & 118.
19. If strictly liable of a civil offence, a defendant is liable irrespective of an absence of negligence or intention on his or her part and even if he or she took reasonable care to prevent the damage. Strict liability allows the defence of honest and reasonable mistake of fact. ( He Kaw Teh's case (1992) 26 NSWLR 352 at 355 (at 529-530, 567-568, 594-595)as cited in Environment Protection Authority v N (1992) 26 NSWLR 352; 76 LGRA 114).
20. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, s. 143.
21. Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, s. 144.
22. Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, s. 78A , Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, Part 6, Division 1.
23. Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, Schedule 3, cl. 32.
24. Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, s. 78A(8)(a), Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, Part 6, Division 4.
25. Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, s. 79.
26. State Environmental Planning Policy No. 48, cl. 6. ‘Putrescible waste' includes food, animal matter, grease trap waste or unstable or untreated sewage sludge: State Environmental Planning Policy No. 48, cl. 4, Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, Schedule 1, Part 3, Division 2, definition of 'putrescible waste'.
27. State Environmental Planning Policy No. 48, cll. 7, 8 & 10.
28. State Environmental Planning Policy No. 48, cl. 9, 11.

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