EPA Victoria says a Supreme Court decision handed down on Friday was important in confirming EPA's powers to protect the community and environment from hazardous waste.
EPA CEO Lee Miezis says the court decision on the definition of waste removes uncertainty that could otherwise have left loopholes in Victoria's environment protection laws.
"It came down to whether EPA notices ordering a company at Shepparton to clean up and remove waste were enforceable because the company claimed the material was not waste but something else, such as raw material for processing or a product it could sell," Mr Miezis said.
"The idea that a stockpile of hazardous materials might not be legally seen as waste could have left EPA fighting cases in the courts while stockpiles sat there, putting our communities and environment at risk" he said.
The Supreme Court decision involved a proceeding brought by Nonferral Recycling Pty Ltd challenging Clean Up Notices issued by EPA in 2017 and 2019 for lead and aluminium materials stockpiled at 35 Swainston Rd, Shepparton East.
The company had claimed the notices were unenforceable because the material stored at the premises was not waste.
There were three types of material mentioned in the notices. The court determined that two of them, consisting of lead and aluminium materials, were waste for the purposes of the Environment Protection Act.
The court found the lead material, trucked in from Western Australia, was legally waste because it was documented and transported as waste by the producers, there was no ability to process or recycle it in Victoria and no market for it in Australia.
The court found the aluminium material, including powder and paste generated in Tasmania, was contaminated with other material, had also been documented as waste, the producer was willing to pay to dispose of it and there was no market for it as a product in Australia.
"That made it waste, and at no time has the Nonferral premises been licensed to store, receive or handle waste under the Environment Protection Act," Mr Miezis said.
The court also noted that there was real risk that the handling and storage of the lead and aluminium materials represented an environmental hazard.
"This is an important decision because it removes any uncertainty and gives a clearer path to enforcing EPA regulatory notices for waste stockpiles, that have been issued to protect the community and the environment from industrial pollution," he said.
This decision builds on EPA's success in an earlier case brought by Dasma Environmental Pty Ltd, who also tried to claim the material it received at its Hazelwood North premises was not waste, and therefore not subject to regulation by EPA.
"We will strenuously pursue through the courts, anyone that tries to avoid their waste management obligations under Victoria's environment protection laws," Mr Miezis said
A third stockpile at the premises was determined not to be waste, because it consisted of baled aluminium foil offcuts that were a product ready for sale to industry and represented no risk to human beings or the environment.
