Trade Waste Overview
What is Trade Waste?
Trade waste is water contaminated in the process of business operations which cannot be returned to the natural environment without treatment.
Trade waste is any industrial waste other than normal domestic sewage. It may contain chemicals, fats or detergents. It is typically wastewater as a result of a washing, cleaning or rinsing process. It may also be liquid food waste. A detailed definition is provided in regulations made under the Water Industry Act 1994.
Only trade waste which complies with specific guidelines may be discharged into the sewerage system. We accept a variety of industrial and commercial trade waste that complies with guidelines.
Yarra Valley Water provides trade waste services by:
- Providing industry with a means of disposal for conforming waste on a user pays basis
- Encouraging community education about responsible waste management
- Encouraging the implementation of waste minimisation principles
- Effectively and efficiently regulating and monitoring trade waste in order to protect the objectives of trade waste management.
View instant answers for more information on what trade waste is.
Objectives in managing trade waste
Yarra Valley Water manages trade waste to ensure the proactive protection of:
Our People - by protecting the occupational health and safety of Yarra Valley Water personnel and the general public in and around the sewer environment.
Our Sewerage Infrastructure - by ensuring wastes received into the sewerage system are of a quality and quantity that does not severely impact the integrity of our sewerage assets;
Our Treatment Plant Processes - to ensure the efficient treatment of all sewage collected; and
Our Environment - to ensure sewerage services result in minimal environment impact, including consideration of recycled water and biosolids reuse opportunities.
Discharging Trade Waste
In accordance with the Water Industry Act 1994 and the Water Industry Regulations 2006, we will accept trade waste into our sewerage system only if you have our prior agreement or consent. Penalties up to $20,000 apply for illegal discharges. We will accept trade waste only where there is no danger to people, the environment, the sewerage infrastructure and the treatment works.
A trade waste agreement or consent is a commercial contract which states the terms and conditions to be observed in order to discharge waste into the sewerage system. All companies and businesses operating in the Yarra Valley Water area and discharging waste into the sewerage system must have a trade waste agreement with us
A trade waste application form is available for download here (PDF 659KB).