Melbourne needs another major landfill, according to Western Region Environment Centre director Harry van Moorst.
Speaking at last Wednesday’s community meeting in Caroline Springs, Mr van Moorst said the city would be unable to properly process its waste if one of the ‘‘big three’’ landfills – in Deer Park, Werribee and Hume – was closed.
“This is a serious risk, especially as it appears the bureaucrats are simply intending to use the three existing but inappropriate landfills,” he said.
“Werribee takes 1200-plus tonnes a day.
“So even one day out of action creates a backlog difficult to manage, let alone if a fire started and it was out of action for several weeks.”
A Sustainability Victoria report found: “Consolidation also poses risks that may need to be managed by government. This includes the risk of monopolies and a lack of processing capacity in the event of a large facility closing due to commercial reasons or an emergency.”
A Boral spokesman said the Deer Park
landfill was able to process about 20 per cent of all waste generated across Melbourne, and it supported domestic and commercial services from municipalities including Melton, Brimbank, Moorabool and Moonee Valley.
