Southern Waste Solutions (SWS) will construct a temporary cell at its Copping landfill
facility to safely store debris from the recent fires in the Tasman region until it is safe to
deposit in its B cell.
SWS CEO Christine Bell said the company had also worked with the Environment
Protection Authority (EPA) to gain the necessary permits to safely handle and dispose of
the fire debris, which is classified as contaminated waste, in the landfill.
“Although the landfill was directly in the path of the fire on 4 January, our infrastructure
was not significantly damaged, allowing us to assist in fire recovery efforts,” Ms Bell said.
“The landfill is essential to the clean-up operations that are about to begin and we have
extended the site’s opening hours so that a backlog of domestic waste can also be
removed from fire-affected areas.
“We will absorb the additional capital and operating costs associated with disposing of the
fire debris and we are also taking other opportunities to assist the community as they
arise.
“We wish to express our sympathy to everyone affected by the fires and we will continue
to seek opportunities to assist the community in any way we can.”
The Copping landfill facility is operated by Southern Waste Solutions – a joint authority
owned by Clarence, Kingborough, Sorell and Tasman Councils.
Note: The B cell is the existing landfill.
Southern Waste Solutions
