Illegal dumpers have been caught red handed on CCTV dumping a load of what appears to be household construction waste at a public walking and cycle path in Melbourne's western suburbs.
Federation Trail was targeted by criminal dumpers to offload their waste rather than pay the landfill fees.
On 24 January this year, an Isuzu Tradepack tray truck using fake number plates and laden with waste that should have gone to a licensed landfill, drove along Federation Trail. Two men got out and dumped the entire load on to the nature reserve.
"The debris was cleaned up quickly by the manager of the trail, but the fact that fake plates were used on the Isuzu heavily suggests this wasn't a spur of the moment transgression and the culprits had given real thought about proceeding with a criminal activity," said EPA CEO Lee Miezis.
"Tracking the plates confirmed they were either stolen or forged, as it was an unregistered Tasmanian number plate.
"If you recognise either of these men, or the truck, we would love to hear from you, anonymously if you wish."
EPA says illegal waste dumping is a growing problem as more people try to avoid the cost of legal disposal of waste items. Reports involving illegally disposed of waste rose from eight a day in 2023 to eleven a day so far in 2025.
If you recognise the people, or the truck, in this video, https://youtu.be/5Gx_tFdem9A please call EPA Victoria. And if you see dumping, report it to EPA on 1300 372 842 or use the Snap, Send Solve website.
"People have to understand that even as private citizens, they have a responsibility to protect the environment," said Mr Miezis.
