Cost of waste crisis revealed in documents on Australian-first environmental laws
Victorian taxpayers are forking out big money each year to clean up rubbish stockpile fires, abandoned waste sites and illegal dumps. See how much it’s costing us.
VIC News
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Rubbish stockpile fires, abandoned waste sites and illegal dumps are costing taxpayers almost $200 million a year to clean up.
The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal there have been 100 fires at Victorian recycling facilities in the past decade, mostly since 2012, with experts putting the average annual bill to deal with these incidents at $105 million.
The shocking blaze at collapsed recycling giant SKM’s Coolaroo facility in 2017 cost as much as $100 million to extinguish and clean up after firefighters spent three weeks on site.
Another $58 million is spent every year dealing with waste which is abandoned by businesses on land they have leased, according to a report by Deloitte consultants.
The Environment Protection Authority estimates Victoria also loses $30 million in clean-up costs and unpaid landfill levy revenue due to a surge in illegal dumping, particularly on Melbourne’s urban fringe in creeks and waterways.
The alarming figures are detailed in new documents on Australian-first environmental laws which kick in on July 1 next year, covering not only waste but water, noise, litter and vehicle emissions.
A criminally enforceable “general environmental duty” — similar to occupational health and safety laws — will allow the EPA to proactively prevent pollution and waste damaging the environment and putting people’s health at risk.
Deloitte’s regulatory impact statement reveals:
Victoria is expected to produce 20 million tonnes of solid waste every year by 2044 — up from 12.8 million tonnes today.
About 360,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste was illegally dumped five years ago — and authorities have not been able to account for 100,000 tonnes.
There are at least 30,000 sites in Victoria which represent a risk to human health and the environment, including 11,200 sites deemed high-risk because of groundwater contamination. About a third of those sites are problematic because of service stations or fuel storage.
More than 100,000 noise complaints are received by police and councils each year, taking up a quarter of the time of the force’s liquor licensing unit.
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New regulations to tie in with the reforms mean noise restrictions are set to be brought in around childcare centres, kindergartens and schools, as well as camping grounds and “tourist establishments”.
A three-tiered system with registrations, permits and licences for environmentally risky activities has also been designed, which is expected to cost businesses about $320 million over a decade in compliance and reporting costs.