- Published:
- Monday 13 April 2026 at 12:40 pm
EPA Victoria is cracking down on truck drivers and transport firms who don’t comply with the state’s strict waste tracking laws.
The environmental watchdog conducted the first in a campaign of snap truck inspections in a joint operation with Victoria Police and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator before Easter.
EPA officers interviewed 20 drivers at the Broadford weighbridge in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and inspected six loads.
Officers were checking that no one was carrying reportable priority waste without a valid Waste Tracker record and that all had a valid EPA permission to transport.
Victoria’s environmental regulations state that all reportable priority waste (the highest-risk categories of waste) must be monitored from creation to disposal through the EPA’s Waste Tracker system.
EPA Director of Regulatory Services Alex Badham said waste transporters needed to update the system as soon as they picked up a load and again when they disposed of it.
“Waste Tracker allows us to know who has the waste in real time. If it suddenly disappears, EPA will know,” Ms Badham said.
“It means responsible operators know their waste is going to proper and safe disposal, and it makes it harder for criminals to illegally dump that waste.”
“The message to the industry is that you must track before you transport. Our authorised officers could be anywhere, and if you get caught with an untracked load we will regulate to the full extent of our powers.”
Waste Tracker was introduced in 2021 and has significantly improved waste record creation. EPA is taking a strong stance on this issue and in the current financial year has issued fines totaling over $80,000 and 28 official warnings.
Waste Tracker is just one of the tools EPA uses to combat illegal waste dumping. EPA is taking the lead in a taskforce to tackle dumping on public land and will use data and intelligence to go after those who knowingly break the law.
“We’ll target known dumping grounds, bolster our presence and surveillance and take stronger action against offenders,” Ms Badham said. “We want all Victorians to be able to enjoy shared public spaces, free of illegally dumped waste.”
To find out more about transporting reportable waste, go to our Waste Tracker page.(opens in a new window) To report pollution, call our 24-hour hotline on 1300 372 842 or go to our online pollution reporting portal(opens in a new window).
Updated