Waste regulation and management
The EPA regulates the management of solid and liquid waste in South Australia, including transport, handling, storage, treatment and disposal, as well as activities that produce certain types of waste.
It also administers South Australia’s highly successful container deposit and plastic bags legislation, which have significantly reduced litter in South Australia and contributed to waste avoidance.
The EPA also works with the waste and resource recovery industry and other agencies, such as Zero Waste SA, to promote sustainable waste management practices, minimise waste and encourage resource recovery in accordance with South Australia’s waste hierarchy (Figure 3).
Key EPA waste reforms and achievements for 2013–14 are also discussed in the ‘Our performance’ section of this report.
Figure 3—Waste management hierarchy, from South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2011–15
EPA audits waste stockpiles in the Wingfield area
The Waste Stockpile Audit Program, conducted with the Metropolitan Fire Service, targeted improvement at 10 waste and recycling facilities in the Wingfield and Dry Creek waste precinct between November and December 2013.
The audits assessed compliance with EPA licence conditions in relation to receipt, storage and disposal of waste, and considered fire risk, prevention and management associated with stockpiling combustible materials at waste facilities.
As a result, action required for licensees to meet their general environmental duty and minimise the potential for environmental nuisance to occur was identified, as well as noncompliances and recommendations for improvement.
The audits coincide with a series of waste fires in the Wingfield area over a similar period.