EPA Victoria has ordered industrial recycler Limbourne Group, trading as Apex Waste Control, to remove large stockpiles of industrial waste from its Bunting Rd, Brooklyn, premises.

The order, an Environmental Action Notice (EAN), comes after EPA revoked the company’s permissions on 24 October 2024, effectively shutting down its operations.

The EAN requires the company to cease accepting industrial waste at the premises, remove all waste for disposal, and provide paperwork to prove it was accepted at properly licensed facilities.

EPA officers catalogued nine large stockpiles of mixed industrial waste on the site, with several measuring more than 10 metres by 20 metres and up to 3 metres high, containing soil, mattresses, tyres, rubble, concrete, timber, plastic, metal and broken ceramics.

Limbourne Group had been operating as a skip bin hire and materials recycling business. EPA shut down its operations after an extensive investigation resulting in $45,000 in court-imposed fines and costs for the company and its Director (epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/news-media-and-updates/media-releases-and-news/epa-shuts-down-brooklyn-recycler-after-court-case).

The shutdown came after the company failed to comply with earlier EPA notices requiring it to prepare an emergency management plan and fire risk assessment, stop accepting waste, provide documents that track the collection and receival of waste, and make its stockpiles of combustible and recyclable waste comply with safety regulations.

EPA Western Metropolitan Regional Manager Jeremy Settle says EPA licences and notices come with strict conditions.

“An EAN lists what the duty holder must do, gives a clear deadline, and warns that it is backed by potential fines and prosecution,” Mr Settle said.

“Most businesses want to do the right thing, many comply with a verbal request, for some the EAN is a helpful document that lists exactly what they need to do, and some others get the message when they see it’s a legal document. For those who don’t, there are penalties,” he said.

The court case, the revocation of the company’s permissions and the EAN follow an extensive investigation, the use of aerial surveillance drones and a prosecution in court by EPA Victoria.