Hazardous and Prescribed Industrial Waste
The Environment Protection (Industrial Waste Resource) Regulations 2009 provide the regulatory framework for managing hazardous or prescribed industrial wastes (PIW) in Victoria. The new regulatory framework is concise and streamlined, and presented in a logical flow, intended to enable industry, and other stakeholders, to implement the waste management hierarchy. It also aims to make compliance easier, and improve the understanding of what is needed to identify and manage PIWs.
All industrial wastes are subject to hazard categorisation, with the exception of a short list of industrial wastes. Wastes are categorised on the basis of their chemical composition or physical attributes, and those that are identified as Category A, B or C wastes, will be regulated as PIWs. Less hazardous wastes, that fall below the Category C threshold, can be managed as industrial wastes.
The Regulations allow a waste producer or receiver to notify EPA that they intend to divert, or receive material for secondary beneficial reuse (SBR). Once the notification is authorised by EPA, the material is managed as a product and exempt from the Regulations. In notifying EPA, the Regulations require that detailed information be provided in support of the proposed SBR, principally to ensure the potential risks to human health and the environment are adequately considered and managed. To streamline the approval, but also provide robustness to the process, the Regulations require independent third party review of this information.
Through the implementation and application of the Regulations, it is intended that greater volumes of PIWs will be avoided, or at least diverted to reuse and recycling, resulting in significant reductions in the volumes requiring landfill disposal.
Corio Waste Management can assist waste producers to assess and categorise wastes that are transported from their premises for disposal. Waste characterisation involves the identification of contaminants likely to be present in the waste, as well as sampling and analysis for each of the contaminants. Corio Waste Management can tailor a specific study for the waste that is to be characterised. A waste characterisation study involves an assessment of the process that generated the waste, a hazard characteristic assessment, sampling and analysis of the waste stream and an assessment of the management options available for each category of waste. The waste characterisation study can also be integrated into an existing environmental management systems or environment improvement plan.
The Environment Protection Act 1970 and the Environment Protection (Industrial Waste Resource) Regulations 2009 set out the legislative and regulatory requirements for transporting Prescribed Industrial Waste (PIW) in Victoria. The Regulations require PIW to be transported using a vehicle with an EPA permit to transport prescribed industrial waste and with a waste transport certificate accompanying the load. These wastes can only be transported to facilities with EPA approval. A number of Corio Waste Management vehicles have an EPA permit to transport most of the various types of prescribed industrial wastes. A list of these waste types is provided in the Prescribed industrial waste database on the EPA's website.
There are two ways of completing waste transport certificates: (1) paper certificates, and; (2) the online transport certificate lodgement system called WasteCert. WasteCert, has a number of benefits over the traditional paper certificate system including: reduced administrative expenses and improved waste tracking and compliance. WasteCert electronic certificates cost 50 cents each compared to $5 each for the paper certificates. The cost of purchasing the paper certificates is typically on-charged to the waste producer, so it is recommended that the waste producer register to use WasteCert and purchase electronic certificates via the order form on the EPA's website. Waste producers, accredited agents and waste receivers can register to lodge certificates using WasteCert. Transporters can only access information relevant to them.
Corio Waste Management provides a comprehensive hazardous and prescribed waste management service including:
- Collection, transportation and stabilisation of hazardous wastes, which is defined by the degree of flammability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity. This definition includes acids, toxic chemicals, explosives, and other potentially harmful wastes. Many thermal, chemical and biological process are available to detoxify chemical wastes and options include: chemical stabilisation/fixation, ion exchange, incineration, neutralisation and encapsulation.
- Collection, transportation and stabilisation of low-level radioactive wastes, photographic waste and clinical wastes. This definition includes acids, toxic chemicals, explosives, and other potentially harmful wastes. Sources include medical and research laboratories, mining and petroleum well testing.
- Recovery of packaging materials such as steel drums, tins, plastic drums, pails, stretch-wrap, pallets, cores, trays, rollers, reels and caps for recycling.
- Recovery of recyclable components from lamps including coated fluorescents, high pressure mercury vapour (HIDs), high pressure sodium vapour (HIDs), metal halide, ultraviolet, voltaic arc, dichroic and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
