There is no escaping the fact that we as humans accumulate large amounts of waste. From everyday trash to bulk and chemical waste, this garbage needs a safe place to go. After the tragic events in Beirut earlier this month, enforcing the safe disposal of waste has never been more apparent. Landfill management has become a highly sophisticated process in recent years to ensure that there is not only enough room to accommodate the mountains of trash produced daily, but to see that it is processed in an environmentally safe manner. Unfortunately, many landfill operators try to bend the rules in order to make more money. This could mean anything from accepting hazardous materials, improperly contained trash, or even running illegal dumpsites. In 2017, an abandoned factory in Birmingham, UK was being used as an illegal dumpsite, storing 5,000 tonnes of waste in barrels. It was intentionally set afire to dispose of the waste, putting the lives of 60 firefighters and the surrounding community at risk.

Illegal dumpsites and improperly managed waste management sites have become a worldwide concern. In Australia, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Victoria has taken to the skies to closely monitor landfills for proper management. Established in 1970 under the Environmental Protection Act, the EPA works to “prevent and reduce the harmful effects of pollution and waste on Victorians and their environment,” as outlined on their website. As waste crimes continued to grow throughout Victoria and the rest of Australia, the EPA enacted a stricter program utilizing intelligence sharing between agencies and anonymous community reports, higher penalty fees, frequent inspections, and new waste tracking technology.

This new tracking technology comes in the form of drones. The drones are equipped with cameras to give inspectors a visual picture of what is happening on the surface of a landfill, as well as ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to identify any improper waste that has been buried. The drones will be used to inspect legal landfills and search for possible illegal ones. As the EPA’s Executive Director of Regional Services, Damian Wells said, “We know that land with minimum visibility tends to be an attractive place for illegal dumping because offenders think no-one’s watching. They shouldn’t be so confident now.” At one point the EPA issued around 100 notices against illegal waste management and dumping in Victoria with fines ranging anywhere from $7,000-$800,000. The hope is that the drone program will not only help catch waste violators but deter them as well.

As a part of the EPA’s Illegal Dumping Strikeforce Program, drone operators have to become certified by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). This requires drone operators to maintain a visual line of sight with the drone at all times and keep the drone at a minimum of 50ft from people. As part of the initiative to crack down on waste crime, the EPA does not need to notify a landfill in advance of a drone inspection. And though the EPA is free to use the drones in more remote areas, such as those used for illegal dumping, they cannot be flown over populated communities. The drone program has been in effect since 2017, but in 2019 it was used to much success to investigate a suspicious site near Kaniva.

According to a report released by the EPA, “The GPR initially found 20 sites on the property where we suspect containers holding industrial waste are buried.” The data collected by the drone led the EPA to excavate the sites, including 10 smaller ones to see that hazardous waste could be removed. The removed waste was taken to a proper processing site to ensure environmental safety. With the success in Kaniva, the EPA went on a drone inspection spree this past summer. On May 22, 2020, the EPA conducted an unannounced drone inspection of Ravenhall landfill. The drone found that the landfill had an excess of exposed waste, a violation that leads to air pollution. The managing company was fined a total of $16,522.

In the beginning of June 2020, the EPA flew a drone over landfills operated by Geelong Landfill Pty Ltd and the City of Greater Geelong municipal landfill. Violations in how waste was stored to protect the environment were found and fines over $8,000 were issued. Then in July, the EPA fined Andrew Peace Wines Pty Ltd for illegally dumping and burning waste in Piangil. The drone’s GPR found evidence of industrial waste that was supposed to be sent to an authorized processing facility. The fact that they tried to burn the waste not only leads to toxins being released into the air but shows that the offenders knew they were breaking the law. The EPA believes that the company has been practicing such behaviors for some time now, but since it was the first time they had been caught they were only fined $8,261.

EPA Western Metropolitan Regional Manager Stephen Lansdell says that by conducting these inspections covertly, landfill employees don’t have the chance to cover their tracks forcing management to take accountability for regulations. “Unannounced drone flights like these are now part of EPA’s routine compliance work to ensure the operators are meeting conditions of the licences they hold,” Lansdell said. In other words, the EPA aims to hold licensed and unlicensed dumpers responsible for any and all waste crimes. And now that they have an eye in the sky, offenders should consider themselves warned.