How do I get rid of asbestos or fibro from my home?
The NSW EPA’s rule covers every Sydney council: you must never place asbestos waste in a kerbside bin, and the only lawful destination for it is a landfill licensed to accept it; Hornsby Council’s page adds that asbestos cannot be placed out for a clean-up.
- Every council
Every tile is hatched: the NSW EPA’s asbestos rule covers all of them.
General information only. The NSW EPA’s dealing with household asbestos page is the state’s own guide, and the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency’s page for householders carries the national precautions.
The rule in every council
Asbestos waste may not go into a household bin, and it may not go out for a bulky goods collection; it has to be taken to a licensed facility. Under NSW law you may not do any of these: put asbestos in a kerbside bin of your own, where it puts the crews who empty it at risk and can taint waste that could otherwise have been recycled; load it into a skip that has no cover or is not approved for asbestos; or dump it anywhere, because a landfill licensed to take it is the only lawful end point. The same rule stops it being given a second life: the NSW EPA says asbestos can never be reprocessed or recycled. Asbestos fibres are dangerous when the material is damaged or worked on, and the EPA says most asbestos-containing material in a home is safe while it is in good repair and nothing is likely to damage or disturb it. If you think you have spotted illegally dumped asbestos, do not touch it: it should be reported to the local council or to the NSW EPA Environment Line on 131 555.
Who should do the work
Unlicensed removal is legal in your own home, but only for non-friable material under 10 square metres: the state government says any friable material, and anything larger, needs a licensed removalist. A home owner who does that small job must follow the same strict precautions as a licensed removalist, from the start of the job to the end. The advice is still not to rely on that permission: the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself, and the NSW Government’s asbestos site strongly recommends a licensed asbestos assessor and removalist, who can identify, remove and dispose of it safely. The NSW EPA sets the same limits for a contractor. SafeWork NSW, which regulates the work, says that where unlicensed removal is allowed, it still recommends a licensed asbestos removalist for any quantity. If material might be asbestos, treat it as if it is: the state’s guidance is to stop work, clear the site and get help.
While the material is still in place, the maintenance advice is to leave it undisturbed. The agency says to maintain asbestos materials in good condition and to take care to avoid disturbing or releasing fibres, and it says never to clean an asbestos cement roof, or anything else made of asbestos, with a high-pressure hose or any abrasive method, scrubbing, sanding and grinding among them, because the agency says that kind of cleaning spreads contamination and can lead to an expensive clean-up. If a material might contain asbestos, treat it like it is, and never clean it with high-pressure water or any abrasive process such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding: the agency says work that is likely to disturb or damage the asbestos should go to professional help instead. Queensland’s asbestos site says not to saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials.
Carrying it yourself, step by step
The household in this example keeps the job and carries the load: a pile of asbestos waste from a home that is over the EPA’s threshold of 100 kilograms or 10 square metres, taken there by the householder rather than by a contractor. At that size the EPA asks for a form, and the steps below follow the official pages.
Wrapping it
The EPA’s rule for waste on site is that it has to be kept on your property without posing a risk to people or the environment. For the trip, clause 78 of the Waste Regulation 2014 requires bonded asbestos material to be packaged securely. Anything contaminated with asbestos dust counts as asbestos waste too, protective gear and clean-up rags included, and it must be disposed of safely with the rest.The form
The form is the EPA’s disposing of household asbestos form. It applies where a load runs past the threshold of 100 kilograms or 10 square metres and the householder carries it there rather than a contractor, and it has to notify the EPA within 24 hours after the load has been delivered. The form asks for the docket number for the load, which the receiving facility provides.Notice
The EPA says some places require 24 hours’ notice before a load arrives, and they may have their own rules about how the asbestos is packaged and delivered. The EPA lists the facilities that accept household asbestos, and its instruction is to ring the landfill before the trip, to check it takes household asbestos waste. It adds its own note: a listing is not an endorsement, and a facility may still refuse a load.Licensed landfill
Disposal is only lawful at a landfill licensed to accept asbestos, and the EPA’s list for the Sydney metro region is: Elizabeth Drive Landfill at Kemps Creek on 1300 651 116; Blaxland Waste Management Facility on (02) 4780 5000, which takes waste generated in its own local government area only; Bingo Eastern Creek Landfill on 1300 424 646; Horsley Park Waste Management Facility on (02) 9620 1944; Kimbriki Recycling and Waste Disposal Centre on (02) 9486 3512; Lucas Heights Waste and Recycling Centre on 1300 65 1116; and Wetherill Park Resource Recovery Facility on 1300 65 1116.What to keep
The record the form itself asks for is the docket number the receiving facility gives for the load. If a licensed contractor transports more than 100 kilograms or 10 square metres for you instead, the contractor notifies the EPA of the movement through the Integrated Waste Tracking Solution, and your own protection is the disposal receipt: as the owner of the waste you remain responsible for its lawful disposal even when you pay someone to take it, so make sure the contractor gives you a copy.
Penalties
The NSW EPA’s household asbestos page sets fines of up to $7,500 for an individual and $15,000 for a company for the wrong handling of asbestos waste, and says the penalties reach $1,000,000 if the case goes to court. Its penalties page adds that for larger-scale waste dumping offences the top penalty doubles for individuals and corporations when the waste contains asbestos. A clean-up notice works the other way: the EPA or the local council can issue one, and the person served with it pays for the clean-up and the safe disposal of the waste.
Handing the job to someone else does not hand over the duty. The owner’s duty guide follows it from the quote to the disposal receipt.