How to manage industrial asbestos waste

How to remove asbestos

The safest way to remove asbestos is to use a licensed asbestos removalist.

A licensed asbestos removalist must:

have a waste transport certificate for the waste
have a waste transport permit for their vehicle

take the asbestos to a licensed landfill.

If your business decides to remove asbestos without a licensed asbestos removalist, follow guidance from Asbestos in Victoria.

How to transport commercial asbestos

To transport commercial asbestos, you must:

use a vehicle with a waste transport permit

have completed Victorian Waste Management Association driver training

transport the asbestos to a licensed landfill
have a waste transport certificate unless working under a special classification.

Permissions to store asbestos waste

To store asbestos temporarily, you will likely need an EPA permission. Unless you are eligible for an A22 Registration, you will need to apply for an A01 Development Licence and an A01 Operating Licence.

You can store asbestos for less than 60 days if it is:

less than 10 cubic metres
double-wrapped
non-friable.

It must be stored at an A22 registered site that is:

permitted under a planning scheme made under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to be used as a transfer station, and which is allowed to accept asbestos or
used as a public utility depot and is storing asbestos waste that has been generated by the public utility. The site must be at least 100 metres away from homes, health services, childcare and education centres. A public utility depot is a storage site which energy and water corporations use.

The asbestos waste then needs to be transported to a site which is licensed by EPA to receive it.

If you believe you are eligible for the A22 Registration described above, apply for A22 Registration through the EPA Portal.

EPA requirements for businesses proposing to treat soil containing asbestos

Businesses seeking to receive and treat soil containing asbestos for offsite use as fill material are required to apply for a Development Licence from the EPA.

The Development Licence application must include a risk assessment, mitigation and monitoring measures that must, at a minimum:

Detail the acceptance criteria (including analytical testing, site history investigations and quarantine process) to eliminate the possibility of friable asbestos being present in the soil that is received for treatment.
Describe batch management process to reduce the likelihood of cross contamination of friable asbestos.
Describe the batch treatment process and its effectiveness in removing asbestos.
Describe a recall procedure, should an accidentally contaminated batch be dispatched.
Detail the soil testing regime to meet the fill material determination, including meeting the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure (NEPM ASC) requirements (concentrations of less than 0.01 % w/w for bonded asbestos and less than 0.001% w/w for friable asbestos) and ensuring no other contaminants are present in the soil.

Any waste soil containing asbestos above these NEPM ASC required concentrations after treatment, does not meet fill material determination and must be disposed of at an appropriately licensed landfill.

Refer to Development Licences for more information.