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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 3183 asked in the Legislative Council on 10 September 2020 by Hon Tim Clifford

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

(1) According to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, contaminated solid waste is considered Class IV landfill waste. Would the Minister please explain why Cleanaway’s Dardanup Facility, which is only licensed to Class III, received approximately 1500 to 2000 tonnes of burnt and damaged waste from the ruins of Cleanaway’s recycling facility in South Guildford that burnt down last November?
(2) Was the fire debris material from Cleanaway's South Guildford Material Recovery Facility tested to ascertain the levels of contamination for classification prior to disposing at Cleanaway's Dardanup facility?
(3) If the landfill waste that Cleanway’s Dardanup facility received was not considered Class IV, would the Minister please table the documents clarifying that?
(4) I note the series of fires at Cleanaway’s Dardanup facility in the weeks following the South Guildford facility fire and subsequent disposal of the fire waste at the Dardanup facility, and I ask, what investigations were undertaken to ascertain that the fires at Cleanaway's Dardanup facility were not due to the disposal of the fire debris from the South Guildford facility?

Answered on 14 October 2020

(1) The Landfill Waste Classification and Waste Definitions 1996 (as amended 2019) identifies that contaminated solid waste can be classified as either Class II, Class III or Class IV waste.  The classification of the waste is based on the level of contamination in the material. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) advises that the solid waste materials from the fire were predominantly paper, cardboard, metal and plastics which are typically classified as Class II waste. Cleanaway’s Banksia Road landfill is licensed under Part V of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act) to accept Class III waste.

(2) – (3) The responsibility lies with the waste producer to classify their waste and for the landfill operator to only accept waste which is authorised for disposal in their licence granted under Part V of the EP Act. DWER is not aware if Cleanaway undertook any sampling and testing of the fire damaged waste prior to its disposal. DWER conducts regular compliance inspections at the Dardanup facility which include the examination of paperwork relating to waste acceptance criteria. Any non-conforming waste accepted at the site will result in an appropriate compliance response by DWER.

(4) DWER is not responsible for investigating the cause of fires. I am advised the waste material from the fire at South Guildford on 25 November 2019 was wetted down by officers from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) at the site for up to five days. Two fires occurred at the Dardanup facility on 12 and 28 January 2020. I am further advised the cause of these fires involved household waste, and there is no evidence to connect the fires at the Dardanup facility with the waste removed from South Guildford.