The Victorian Government is helping communities affected by the February 2024 emergency events. The government has removed charges to dispose of disaster waste. The waste levy for disposal of disaster waste to landfill will be waived. Gate fees will be covered for landfills and transfer stations. This means all disaster waste can be disposed of free of charge.
Find out if the waiver applies to you at Free disposal of bushfire and storm waste until 30 April 2024.
Disaster waste is any material:
- deposited on a property by the emergency events of 13 February 2024
- damaged by the emergency events of 13 February 2024.
Information for residents
People living in areas hit by the disaster should dispose their disaster waste at a council operated waste transfer station.
There are requirements for taking waste to a transfer station or a landfill. You will need to provide evidence of your address like a driver’s licence or recent rate notice. You will not have to pay a gate fee for disposing of the waste.
Information for landfills
Waste levy waiver
Information on the received disaster waste will need to be provided on Waste Levy Statements submitted to EPA. Landfill operators should use a subcode at the weighbridge to group incoming waste loads as disaster waste and subject to the waiver.Gate fee rebate
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action will contact landfill operators to discuss tracking and payment of the gate fee rebate.
If you have received waste from a transfer station, you will need:
- a declaration from the transfer station that the waste is disaster waste from an eligible LGA
- consignment details showing the source of the waste originating from:
- one of the affected LGAs
- contractors acting on behalf of emergency response agencies
- councils or government departments.
Information for transfer stations
You are responsible for checking that waste received and transported to a landfill is disaster waste. A driver’s licence or rates notice needs to be checked to verify the waste is disaster waste from an affected local government area.
Landfill operators will request evidence from transfer stations and waste transporters to verify the waste is disaster waste. A declaration that the waste is disaster waste from an affected local government area should be provided.
Using Waste Tracker to track disaster waste
The duty to track disaster waste that is classified as reportable priority waste will remain, unless otherwise advised by EPA. For that reason, you must continue using Waste Tracker as usual.
To track the disaster waste that is RPW, producers, drivers and receivers should enter the code WLW16022024 in the additional information section of the waste record. All waste must be appropriately classified.
Reviewed 1 March 2024