What is illegal dumping, who is responsible for enforcing it, and what are the penalties for individuals and companies found guilty in NSW?
If you’ve ever seen household junk or more egregious dumping of chemical or hazardous waste in New South Wales, then you’re certainly not alone. In NSW, over 7.8 million tonnes of waste is dumped each year, and of that amount, more than 1.3% (100,000 tonnes) of it is illegally dumped.
Needless to say, illegal dumping is an ongoing problem that the NSW state government has been trying to curb since the establishment of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act in 1997.
In 2023, it is estimated that roughly a third of households and a quarter of businesses in NSW are guilty of illegally dumping or disposing of waste. In this article, we’ll explore the laws that govern illegal waste disposal in NSW, the applicable fines, and penalties that individuals and business may face.
Table of contents
Illegal dumping is the act of disposing of larger than litter-sized waste on land or in water sources without the proper authorisation or approvals.
Common examples of illegal dumping include kerbside dumping of household waste or furniture, bushland dumping of construction materials, and industrial disposal of chemicals into waterways
The Protection of the Environment Operations Act (1997, POEO Act) is enforced by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and is the governing framework that governs illegal dumping and waste disposal in NSW.
The EPA strictly enforces laws that carry heavy penalties against illegal dumping to deter individuals or corporations from causing potential harm to human health and the environment. The penalties for breaching these laws include hefty fines of up to $500,000, jail terms of up to 2 years, and seizing of vehicles used in the act of illegal dumping.
Companies generate significantly more waste than individuals and are, therefore, subject to bigger penalties to discourage illegal dumping.
The POEO Act has also been recently amended to include the following penalties for illegal dumping:
If you witness illegal dumping being conducted or come across waste that has been illegally dumped, it is your responsibility to report it to the EPA to help keep our environment safe and clean.
In most cases, illegally dumped waste can be reported online to the EPA via RIDonline by providing the following information:
By submitting these details, you’ll be helping the EPA find and clean the dumped waste, take action against the offenders, as well as identify dumping hot spots to curb repeated behaviour in future.
However, if the waste dumped poses an emergency (fires, toxic fumes, asbestos), notify emergency services by calling 000 instead. Similarly, if the waste is an immediate threat to health and safety or the environment, call the EPA Environment Line at 131 555.
The penalties for illegal dumping have serious weight – not only do these offences contribute to a negative outcome for communities and the environment, but they can also hold disastrous consequences for you or your business.
To dispose of waste properly, you’ll need to understand what kind of waste it is. Certain types of waste (chemical, hazardous, e-waste) require special disposal methods to avoid environmental contamination that poses a threat to humans and nature.
For household waste, be sure to use council-provided bins for rubbish disposal. Bulkier items that cannot fit into bins should be disposed of at a licensed waste disposal facility or at scheduled council clean-up events.
Companies should take a look at their waste management plans to ensure that all waste is channelled to appropriate waste-processing facilities to avoid being charged with illegal dumping.
Together with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), the NSW state government continues to take strict, punitive action against individuals and companies found to be illegally dumping waste in NSW.
Given the strict dumping Laws, fines, and penalties that exist in New South Wales, companies and individuals must take a proactive approach to waste disposal. If you’re having trouble deciding how to deal with your waste, don’t take the easy (and potentially costly) option of dumping it illegally. Ridly Rubbish Removal offers hassle-free same-day rubbish removal in Sydney and its surrounding suburbs in NSW.
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