Guidelines for landlords and agents: Minimise risk from the storage and abandonment of waste

Landlords and real estate agents need to be aware of the risks associated with tenants who store or manage waste on leased premises.

This guideline helps to understand the risks associated with illegally stored or abandoned waste.

What is the issue

Waste has the potential to cause harm to human health and the environment. The risk of harm increases when waste is improperly or illegally stored, managed, or disposed of. While the majority of waste and recycling operations are run responsibly, operators that face financial hardship or bankruptcy, and rogue operators might illegally store or abandon waste. When such choices are made it can be landlords that are left with the legal liability to clean up the waste and manage any ongoing risks, such as the management of contaminated land. Landlords and real estate agents should be aware of the risks posed from illegally stored or abandoned waste, and the possible financial and legal consequences for themselves from their tenants’ actions. Undertaking due diligence can reduce these risks.

Typical types of illegally stored or abandoned waste include:

• Construction and demolition waste
• Materials containing asbestos
• Contaminated soils
• Medical and radiological waste
• General commercial waste
• e-waste, glass, plastics, tyres, polystyrene, etc.

The information below supports landlords and real estate agents to act diligently and help mitigate the potential risks to themselves, the environment, and their community.

Consequences of illegally stored or abandoned waste

There are many possible consequences of waste illegally stored or abandoned. Broadly, they can be characterised by risks to property, risks to the environment, human health and safety, and legal and financial risks.

It can damage your structures and contaminate your land

• The value of your property can be harmed – if your property is damaged, becomes geo-technically unstable, or contaminated, the value of your property can be severely affected.
• You could lose your buildings and structures to fire – combustible recyclable and waste materials illegally stored or abandoned are fire hazards. Fire from waste places the buildings and structures on your property at risk.
• Your land can become contaminated – leaching or run-off from waste may contaminate your land. You have legal obligations to manage your land if it is or becomes contaminated. Contaminated land must be managed and may require remediation to make it suitable for its current use or its future use under the Planning Scheme.

It can cause harm to the users of your land, the environment, human health and your local community

• There can be severe risks to the environment – leaching or run-off from waste pollutes land, surface water, and groundwater.
• There can be severe risks to human health – illegally stored or abandoned waste can cause air pollution from dust and odour, attract vermin that are carriers for disease, contaminate stormwater as well as land and aquatic environments, and lead to human exposure to hazardous waste.
• There can be severe risks to human safety – illegally stored or abandoned waste poses safety risks to the users of property due to site instability, chemical spills, and uncovered or exposed waste stockpiles.
• Waste fires cause severe risks to human health and the environment – illegally stored or abandoned waste poses a fire risk, threatening human health and the environment through air, land and waterway pollution.

You can be liable for additional financial costs

• You can be liable for costs to manage illegally stored or abandoned waste. Costs for clean-up measures, removing and transporting waste to a lawful place, reducing stockpiles of waste, remediation of contaminated land, legal fees, may be compounded by a loss of rental income.
• If hazards such as a fire occurs , costs may also include contaminated land or waterway clean-up.
• EPA may take action in response to illegally stored or abandoned waste. This may result in legal costs or cost recovery for any clean-up costs borne by EPA.