You can no longer buy paper waste transport certificates for movement of prescribed industrial waste within Victoria. EPA phased out all paper certificates by 1 July 2019.

Refunds for unused paper waste transport certificates have ended.

Unused books can still be returned free of charge to:

Reply Paid 4395
EPA Victoria
Paper WTC
GPO Box 4395
Melbourne VIC 8060.

EPA no longer issues paper waste transport certificates for the movement of prescribed industrial waste (PIW) within Victoria.

Since 1 July 2019, duty holders have needed to register for the EPA Portal and use electronic waste transport certificates.

To set up a new Portal account, follow these steps: 

1. Visit the EPA Portal website; portal.epa.vic.gov.au  
2. Select the “Create Account” link found below the login fields. 
3. Select “Register on behalf of a business” even if you are a sole trader.
4. Follow the steps of entering a business email address, and the verification process. 

It may take a couple of days for your account to be created. A confirmation email will be sent to the registered email address, confirming once the registration has been completed. 

Although the electronic waste transport system may look different to paper waste transport certificates, the information requirements are the same.

The interactive forms have drop down fields, some of which are mandatory. For an overview of the waste transport certificate process see the EPA Interaction Portal Guide.

Waste is defined by the Environment Protection Act as any matter, whether solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive, that is discharged, emitted or deposited in the environment in such volume, constituency or manner as to cause an alteration of the environment. 

The Industrial Waste Resource Regulations specify that you must include a valid waste code for the material that is being transported. 

A list of approved waste codes can be found in Waste codes (publication IWRG822). If you can't identify which waste code to use please contact us on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC).

The Portal allows you to easily find how many waste transport certificates have been created and submitted by your organisation. 

When you click on the ‘Change or review an existing certificate’ link, you will be taken to the search page. Here you can search for all certificates submitted in the last two years, or narrow down the results using a range of criteria. 

The search results can be sorted by each of the headings. Click on a heading (for example, ‘Status’), to sort the results in ascending or descending order. 

All results can be exported to Microsoft Excel by clicking on the ‘Export to spreadsheet’ button, which is located in the top right-hand corner of the results table. 

To open an individual certificate, click on the ‘Attachment’ link. This will open the file as a PDF document in a new window. 

When you first create a certificate, the certificate number is blank. The number will be generated when you submit Part A. 

You can save a created certificate as a draft without reducing your purchased credits. Your available purchased certificates (your credit amount) will only update when Part A of a certificate is submitted. 

To save a certificate as a draft, click on the ‘Save as draft’ button on page 2. Clicking on the ‘Save’ icon at the top of the page will not save your document into the system. 

In Part A of each waste transport certificate you must nominate an emergency contact. The dropdown list will show your name, and may also show other people from your organisation.

Please select the most appropriate person to be contacted in the case of an emergency. Please also check that the phone number provided is correct.

If the phone number showing in your certificate is incorrect, or if you need to change other account details, email wastecert@epa.vic.gov.au.

If the contact details for another person are incorrect, they must be updated by the account holder.

If you know someone in your organisation with an account has left, please contact EPA on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) to have the account deactivated.

If you regularly transport the same type of waste, with the same receiver and disposal options, you can save time by using a waste transport certificate template. 

You can create a certificate template by entering in the details and submitting Part A. An option will appear to ‘Save as Template’. You can click this button after submitting Part A or B.

Alternatively, you can ask EPA to make you a template. Save Part A of a waste transport certificate as a draft with all of the required information, then send this certificate number to wastecert@epa.vic.gov.au. This will be converted into a template.   

If you have any questions please contact EPA on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC).

Tap the first letter of the proposed receiver/transporter company name and you will be able to scroll through all of the companies starting with that letter.

Part B of waste transport certificates must include the details of the waste transporter. 

When entering the vehicle registration details, don’t include a space between the letters and numbers.

Right: VNN000 

Wrong: VNN 000

The vehicle used for transportation must be licensed by EPA to transport prescribed industrial waste. 

If you have named a transporter in part A and that transporter has changed, you will still be able to enter another company’s vehicle details but you will receive a pop-up message that highlights the difference.  

If you still receive an error when submitting Part B, please contact EPA on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC).

Waste transport certificates can be created as new or from an existing waste stream template. If you select a new template, you will need to enter details in all drop-down fields of Part A.   

If you choose to create a certificate from an existing template, most details will be pre-filled. You will only need to enter details of the waste group before being able to submit Part A.  

If you have all the details to hand, it should take no longer than a minute to create and submit Part A of a new waste transport certificate. Less time is required if you are using an existing template. 

Please note if you've been inactive in the Portal for longer than 30 minutes, you may receive a ‘timeout’ error. You will have to login to the Portal again to start a new session before you can create and submit certificates.

EPA's preferred approach is that all waste producers are registered in the portal and complete and submit Part A of waste transport certificates.

EPA recognises business operating models vary, therefore transporters may complete and submit Parts A and B providing:

• producers are provided with the information for Parts A and B before the waste is moved 
• the producers details are provided in the producer comment field in Part A.

Where urgent amendments are required on an electronic waste transport certificate (WTC), EPA suggests creating a new electronic WTC, and emailing wastecert@epa.vic.gov.au to arrange cancellation of the initial WTC with the error. 

Please note the cancellation request is required in writing. It cannot be processed via the phone to the Customer Service Team.

Find out how to cancel a WTC. The page includes information about who can cancel a WTC, and what information you need to supply.

The movement of controlled waste from interstate to Victoria is managed by the National Environment Protection (Movement of Controlled Waste between States and Territories) Measure (NEPM).

Requirements for the movement of controlled waste from interstate to Victoria are provided in Movement of controlled waste into Victoria (publication IWGR831). The application form is available on the waste transport forms page.

The interstate movement of prescribed industrial waste (PIW) from Victoria is managed under both:

• the Industrial Waste Management Policy (Movement of Controlled Waste Between States and Territories)
• the Environment Protection (Industrial Waste Resource) Regulations 2009.

Requirements for the movement of PIW from Victoria are provided in Movement of industrial waste from Victoria (publication IWGR832). The application form is available on the waste transport forms page.

Certificate books for the interstate movement of PIW can be purchased form EPA by calling our customer service team on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC).

An accredited agent is a person or company authorised to carry out certain functions on behalf of a waste producer. Essentially, they become responsible for the waste in place of the producer. In many cases, an accredited agent is also a waste transporter.  

An accredited agent is a waste transporter who is authorised to act on behalf of a waste producer for specific waste types.

An accredited agent fills out parts A and B of a waste transport certificate and can use one certificate for the collection of waste from multiple producers. Using an accredited agent can simplify waste transport for waste producers with smaller quantities of certain types waste.

The Accredited agent application form (publication IWRG812) is available via the EPA website, including the application process, waste code limitations, and details of supporting documentation. Note the application assessment period for new Accredited Agents may take up to six months.

For any queries regarding accredited agents or the application process, please contact the EPA Customer Service Team via 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) or email wasteissues@epa.vic.gov.au

Common errors experienced include:

• a blank screen showing in place of the Waste Transport Certificate PDF document:
• the error message "No authorisation for input" when selecting details for Part C of a Waste Transport Certificate. 

After signing into the EPA Portal, the system requirement specifications are displayed on the home screen, and include: 

• A supported internet browser of Internet Explorer.
• Adobe Reader 11 or higher. 

The following system settings and checks will resolve most issues: 

• Confirm the internet browser being used is Internet Explorer. If using a Windows 10 system, please also set Internet Explorer as the default (otherwise this system setting may not pull data from the correct location for the electronic Waste Transport Certificate to work correctly). 
• Ensure Adobe Reader 11 is installed.  
• Add EPA as a trusted site. 
• Ensure Java is enabled. 

See portal help and troubleshooting for more information.

Should these checks and setting corrections not resolve the issue, please contact EPA on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) for further assistance. 

Where an electronic waste transport certificate is unable to be created (e.g. local computer system issues, non-supported Mac computers, or a portal outage), an emergency waste transport certificate can be obtained by contacting our Customer Service Team on 1300 372 842.

Emergency waste transport certificates are registered for single use only. They include a unique identifier.

Emergency waste transport certificates are issued via email, as an editable PDF document. Once Part B of the Emergency Waste Transport Certificate has been completed, copies are to be emailed to wastecert@epa.vic.gov.au by the waste transporter. In addition, once Part C of the Emergency Waste Transport Certificate has been completed, copies are to be emailed to wastecert@epa.vic.gov.au by the waste receiver.

Further specific instructions on using the emergency waste transport certificate will be contained within the issuing email, or can be clarified by contacting our Customer Service Team on 1300 372 842 or contact@epa.vic.gov.au.