Waste disposal

Some solid waste (such as chemicals, asbestos and e-waste) presents risks to the environment and human health. Such wastes are categorised as hazardous waste and are not suitable for collection through regular solid waste collection services.

More information on hazardous waste further on this page.

Most activities involving the transport, storage, recovery, processing, disposal or treatment of solid waste require an EPA licence. Schedule 1 of the Environment Protection Act 1993 prescribes when these activities are required to be licensed.

Organic wastes, such as garden waste, are a valuable reusable resource. These can be placed in green kerbside bins and used to create mulch or compost.

Other organic wastes, such as food scraps, paper and animal poo, can also be placed in green kerbside bins in certain council areas for composting. Please see the WhichBin website, or check with your council for further information.

Composting activities may require licensing under the Environment Protection Act 1993 depending on their scale and location.

Household metal waste such as empty food, drink, aerosol, oil and paint containers can be placed in kerbside recycling bins.

All other ferrous and non-ferrous scrap can be taken to scrap metal dealers listed in the Yellow Pages or visit Which Bin to locate your nearest depot.

Operators receiving more than 100 tonnes of scrap metal annually may be subject to licensing under the Environment Protection Act 1993.  

A licence is also required for commercial operators who treat scrap metal in any type of fuel-burning equipment or electrically heated furnaces, or disintegration by mechanical means for recovery of metal.

The recovery and reuse of soil and fill materials is a major component of resource recovery activities in South Australia.

The EPA has developed the Standard for the production and use of Waste Derived Fill under the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 in order to ensure that waste soil and fill materials produced for waste (referred to as waste derived fill) are safe and do not present a risk to human health or the environment.

Key components of the standard are that:

• the use be for a beneficial purpose (rather than a means of disposal),
• the risk of harm to the environment or human health is prevented or minimised, and
• the materials meet a defined specification that is suitable for the proposed use.

It is important that the requirements of the standard are followed when reusing waste soil or fill materials produced from waste, otherwise the material may be considered to be waste and any use of that material may constitute unlawful disposal (eg illegal dumping).

Waste derived materials

Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010

Whole tyres are banned from disposal to landfill in South Australia. This is because the tyres do not compact and can flex back to the surface after burial. For more information on drop-off locations for used tyres, please see the WhichBin website.

Waste tyres stored in large quantities can present a fire hazard and harbour disease vectors such as mosquitoes and vermin. The storage or processing of tyres may require licensing under the Environment Protection Act 1993 depending on their scale or the operation.

The EPA encourages the reuse and recycling of waste tyres in preference to disposal where sound beneficial options exist.

For more information regarding recycling options for used tyres and regulatory requirements, please refer to the Waste tyres guideline.

If you have commercial quantities of waste oil to be disposed, contact an appropriate company in the Yellow Pages under 'Waste oil'.

Householders can bring their waste oil to the free dropoff depots in metro Adelaide. 

For more information about recycling waste oil and a list of depots, visit Which Bin.

Septage is the product of periodic desludging of a septic tank. The EPA’s preference is for septage to be taken to a facility that is authorised to receive that material (such as a wastewater treatment plant with a biosolids depot). However, where it is not reasonably practicable to take septage to such a facility, septage can be applied to land as a beneficial soil additive.

The Septage management guideline aids operators in minimising the risk of adverse impacts on the land, water and air when applying septage to land and assists industry in meeting their general environmental duty under the Environment Protection Act 1993. The environmental obligations of waste transporters and landowners are clarified by clearly defining mandatory obligations (musts in the guideline).

The EPA reminds persons seeking to undertake this activity to first confirm whether any other approvals from the local planning authority, council, or other authority are required.

Effective wastewater management is an important consideration for many businesses, industries and communities.

Wastewater management includes the segregation, collection, treatment, storage, reuse and disposal of wastewater.

Improper wastewater management (eg overflows, poor infrastructure maintenance, insufficient treatment, over-irrigation and inadequate lagoon lining) can lead to surface and groundwater pollution. The lack of adequate treatment prior to storage or irrigation could also lead to odour generation.

The Environment Protection Water Quality Policy 2015 imposes an obligation on certain activities to incorporate an effective wastewater management system.

Advice on managing wastewater lagoons

Schedule 1 of the Environment Protection Act 1993 defines hazardous chemicals which are considered to be ‘listed wastes’. Many activities producing listed waste are required to be licensed by the EPA.

Activities producing listed waste which are not required to be licensed (including listed waste from domestic activities) must still comply with specific requirements under the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010. These requirements are that:

1. if the listed waste is removed by a waste transporter, you must ensure that the transporter is authorised to transport that kind of waste.
2. you must take reasonable steps to ensure that the waste is transported to an appropriate licensed or approved depot.

Check out Asbestos SA for information on finding and identifying asbestos, what to do with it, how to remove it and where to put it for residential settings and workplaces.

The EPA is primarily responsible for the regulation of asbestos transport and disposal. Check out the Asbestos disposal fact sheet for further information.

Safe asbestos handling and disposal are also managed by agencies such as SafeWork SA, SA Health, Local Government Association and the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. 

Persons removing and transporting asbestos for a fee or reward require licensing under the Environment Protection Act 1993 and may also require permits/consents from other government agencies.

Further information is available in the guideline Wastes containing asbestos – removal, transport and disposal.

Advice for households

Fire-damaged asbestos

Transfer stations or waste depots

Chemicals are generally considered to be hazardous waste and are prohibited from disposal to landfill.

Household chemicals

The SA Government operates a number of free drop-off depots in metro Adelaide for household chemical waste.

For more information and a list of depots, visit the Which Bin website.

ChemClear

The ChemClear Program, is a national chemical collection and disposal service for agricultural and veterinary chemicals that have become unwanted or surplus to requirements.

Hobby farmers and primary producers should utilise this service to ensure good farm management practices and cleaner, safer land use practices.

DrumMuster

DrumMuster is a national program for the collection and recycling of eligible, cleaned non-returnable crop production and on-farm animal health chemical containers.

Persons wishing to safely dispose of such containers should ensure these are empty, triple rinsed and delivered to the nearest collection centre.

Burn damage

The EPA provides advice on bushfire-affected and burnt chemicals.

E-waste can contain hazardous materials including heavy metals and glass which if broken or damaged pose an unacceptable environmental hazard.

E-waste can be readily recycled (including 90% of what is used to make televisions and computers), saving valuable, finite resources.

Since September 2013, e-waste has been banned from direct landfill disposal across all of South Australia under the under the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010.

Banned from landfill

For information on where and how to recycle your e-waste, householders can visit Which Bin and businesses can visit Business Recycling. 

Fluorescent lighting is banned from direct disposal to landfill and must not be placed in any household bin.

Householders can recycle fluorescent lighting (eg CFLs). Refer to Which Bin to help find your local recycling points.

Medical waste is a listed waste under the Environment Protection Act 1993.

Hospitals with more than 40 beds and pathology laboratories are required to be licensed.

Persons transporting medical waste for fee or reward are required to be licensed as waste transporters.

Doctors, dentists, veterinarians and nursing homes do not require licensing. However, the production and handling of medical waste is regulated the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010. Medical waste must be:

• stored in appropriate containers and clearly labelled
• disposed of as soon as possible
• disposed of by incineration (or another method approved by the EPA)
• collected for disposal by a council or licensed waste transport authorised to collect and transport medical waste.

Medical waste is prohibited from disposal to landfill.

Medical, quarantine and pharmaceutical wastes generally require incineration to ensure the safest and least harmful disposal possible. Currently there is only one commercial operator providing this service. For more information, please contact us at (08) 8204 2004 or email.

Household medical waste

Household medical wastes such as band-aids, bandages, contact lens and cotton buds can be disposed on in the household general waste bin.

Other medical waste, such as expired medicines can be taken to your local chemist for disposal.

The disposal of medical sharps is banned from kerbside waste bins due to the hazard this present to waste management employees. Members of the public can contact the Alcohol and Drug Information Service for details of their nearest sharps disposal outlet.

The most common type of smoke alarm uses a small amount of radioactive material americium-241 as the method for detection of smoke and other combustion products.

The small amount of americium used, its radiation properties, and chemical and physical form, ensure that its use in smoke alarms does not constitute a hazard to people or the environment.

Domestic smoke alarms

All states and territories of Australia now permit the public to dispose of smoke alarms in domestic waste. Up to 2 smoke alarms cab be disposed during any period of 7 days.

Commercial smoke alarms

Some smoke alarms used in commercial or industrial applications contain a different type or greater amount of radioactive material than domestic smoke alarms, and may not be suitable for disposal in domestic waste. Advice on the disposal of commercial or industrial smoke alarms should be sought from the Radiation Protection Branch.

Further information

• Smoke detectors and health
• Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA)