To safeguard environmental and public health, the EPA works closely with landfill operators to ensure their facilities are operating at the highest standards.

A key focus of the EPA is leachate (the liquid that drains or ‘leaches’ from landfill) management, as it has the potential to pose significant risks if poorly controlled, leading to gas, odour and groundwater contamination.

Data collected by the EPA suggested that some licensed landfills were not complying with gas and odour management requirements and that much of this could be attributed to poor leachate management.

While the EPA was considering introducing specific license conditions to tackle the issue, it also wanted to know if there were:

– gaps in the motivation, capability and knowledge of landfill operators which were contributing to the problem

– gaps in what EPA delivers, and what is desired by landfill operators, to assist them in meeting their compliance obligations.

What did we do?

We conducted a series of in-depth interviews with landfill operators to explore their perceptions and experiences of working with the EPA and operating within the regulatory environment.

In particular, we were keen to hear landfill operators’ opinions about:

– the challenges and opportunities facing the industry

– how leachate management is currently understood and practised

– how the EPA might develop future initiatives to better assist the sector.

What did we find?

Interviewees were well aware that their sites posed significant risks to the environment and the community and that it was important to have the EPA regulating and advising the sector to ensure compliance obligations were met.

Changing regulations were described as a key challenge in terms of resourcing, as well as the on-site implementation of these changes, especially with legacy landfills.