2010
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About the report
This report has been prepared by Wright Corporate Strategy to review landfill standards and their application to Australian landfills.
The report summarises the policy and regulatory requirements for landfill performance of the states and territories. These are generally published as landfill management guidelines and cover landfill siting, design, construction, and operation. Published landfill guidelines exist for most jurisdictions with the exception of Western Australia and ACT.
The report focuses on the application of landfill standards rather than actual performance. The reason for this is that landfill performance data is generally not publicly available in a format that would allow for valid, comprehensive conclusions and comparisons at a national scale. Landfill monitoring data is provided to regulatory agencies on a commercial-in-confidence basis.
The report assumes the adequacy and efficacy of these landfill guidelines and used the published guidelines as a benchmark of best practice performance controls. Using the National Landfill Survey undertaken by the Waste Management Association of Australia, the study assesses how current landfill management controls and practices at the surveyed sites align with the guidelines.
The analysis contained in the report finds that general levels of implemented controls for Australian landfills were good, though significant gaps exist in landfill gas collection and leachate monitoring across different landfill sizes.
The report forms part of a suite of research reports used to inform the National Waste Policy - Less waste, more resources.