The Victorian Government is helping communities affected on or after 17 December 2024 by the Yarram Gap Road fire. The government has removed charges to dispose of disaster waste from this emergency event. The waste levy for disposal of disaster waste to landfill will be waived. Gate fees will be covered for specified Council operated transfer stations. 

Find out if the waiver applies to you  at Free disposal of bushfire and storm waste until 9 July 2025

Disaster waste is any material:

  • deposited on a property by this emergency event 
  • damaged by this emergency event.

Disaster waste, for the purposes of section 146(2)(b) of the Act, means any material deposited on property by the temporary emergency, or material damaged by the temporary emergency that is required to be disposed of as part of the recovery from the temporary emergency.

Information for residents

People living in areas hit by the disaster should dispose of 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. 

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.

Information for transfer stations

You can claim a gate fee rebate for accepting disaster waste at specified Council operated  transfer stations. The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action is contacting transfer stations to discuss this.

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.

Disaster waste should be sorted and stored for transport to a landfill, to avoid mixed loads.

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. 

Consignment details will also need to be provided to the landfill. This will need to show the source of the waste from an affected local government area or contractors acting on behalf of emergency response agencies, councils or government departments.

Using Waste Tracker to track disaster waste

The duty to track disaster waste that is classified as reportable priority waste (RPW) will remain, unless otherwise advised by EPA. For that reason, you must continue using Waste Tracker as usual.

To track disaster waste that is RPW, producers, drivers and receivers should enter the code  WLW12032025 in the additional information section of the waste record. All waste must be appropriately classified.

 

Reviewed 21 March 2025