Government considers ending ’zero tolerance’ to asbestos waste

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe has been told the “zero tolerance” approach to asbestos waste is unsustainable and does not work. A bombshell report suggests it could be reused.

Asbestos-contaminated waste could be reused in building materials instead of being sent to landfill, under a bombshell recommendation from the Chief Scientist that the government has been keeping secret for months.

Chief Scientist Hugh Durrant-Whyte has told the NSW government to drop its zero-tolerance approach and adopt a new “threshold” at which asbestos-contaminated waste can be reused.

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe received the recommendations in December.

According to a leaked copy of the report, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, the zero-tolerance approach is unsustainable and ineffective.

Currently, any waste containing asbestos at any concentration is sent to landfill.

Hundreds of sites were shut down last year when asbestos was discovered in mulch. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

“This approach is not sustainable in the context of very limited landfill capacity,” the report says.

The Chief Scientist found that the zero tolerance approach is also “unable to rule out the presence of asbestos” in waste.

A report by the Chief Scientist has recommended a major change to how asbestos-tainted waste is treated. Picture: David Swift

Among nine recommendations, the Chief Scientist has proposed to allow waste containing low levels of asbestos (0.001 per cent or 10mg of asbestos per kilogram of material) to be reused in certain circumstances.

Waste with any “visible” asbestos would still be banned.

While the government received the recommendations in December, the environmental watchdog is still pursuing charges against a company at the centre of the asbestos mulch saga which saw dozens of public parks closed last year.

The EPA has laid 102 charges against three companies over the alleged asbestos contamination.

NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte handed the report to the government in December. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Charges have been brought against VE Resource Recovery Pty Ltd, and two entities trading as Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility (GRRF). VE Resource Recovery’s director, billionaire developer Arnold Vitocco, has also been charged.

GRRF has previously said that the company “maintains its innocence,” and said that “no asbestos contamination has been discovered by the EPA now, or during any previous testing at the Bringelly site”.

While 79 sites were found to be contaminated with asbestos, the companies have only been charged in relation to 26 locations.

Asbestos was discovered in mulch at the Prospect Highway Upgrade site. Picture: Julian Andrews.

The EPA said the sites have been cleared of asbestos-tainted mulch by landowners.

However, the Telegraph last month found chunks of what appeared to be asbestos near the Prospect Highway Upgrade site, one of the locations over which charges have been laid.

“Transport for NSW completed the clean-up of landscaped areas around the Prospect Highway by the end of October 2024 in accordance with an EPA notice and a final certificate was issued on Friday 1 November,” a TfNSW spokesman said.

The Telegraph last month found chunks of what appeared to be asbestos near the Prospect Highway upgrade site last month. Picture: by Julian Andrews

The spokesman said it could not be determined by photos provided whether the land was managed by the agency.

The plan to allow asbestos-contaminated waste to be reused in building materials was condemned on Monday by Asbestos diseases foundation of Australia President Barry Robson.

“I’m totally opposed to what the Chief Scientist is putting forward,” he said.

Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility “maintains its innocence” over asbestos found in mulch across Sydney. Picture: David Swift

“It’s all right to say that we can allow a certain percentage, but just one fibre that lodges in a person’s lung causes disease.”

In a statement, Ms Sharpe said she would consider the report “carefully”.

“I hope to release a government response as soon as possible.

“We will speak to stakeholders as part of that response,” she said.