Almost 10 years in the making, the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has published the Draft Solid Waste Landfills Guidelines 2025.
The Guidelines are intended to be used to assess new or varied landfill licenses applications under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 and to assess issues arising during the operational and post-closure periods of landfills.
According to NSW EPA, “[t]he key updates to the proposed Guidelines include”:
- “[c]larification of the minimum specifications for landfill leachate barriers and capping systems and the procedure for submitting alternatives to the specifications provided”;
- “[i]nclusion of a requirement for Design and Construction Quality Assurance reports submitted to the EPA to include a certification and summary statement in a prescribed form by an engineer”;
- “[p]rovision of additional guidance on several key issues, in particular climate change adaptation, landfill fires, and odour incident management”;
- “[i]nclusion of certain emerging contaminants in the water monitoring suites, namely PFAS and brominated fire retardants”; and
- “[i]nclusion of photographs and diagrams illustrating key landfill components and enhancing the appearance of the Guidelines”.
Comments on the draft guidelines can be sent to NSW EPA, by 25 November 2025.
If you require assistance preparing a response or need advice on how the proposed guidelines may affect your existing operations if adopted, please reach out to McCullough Roberton’s Planning and Environment team.