Asbestos disposal in Traralgon: the Hyland Highway Landfill

Your own load, step by step

• Check you qualify. The resident fee is for Latrobe City residents, which covers Traralgon, Churchill, Tyers, Glengarry, Traralgon South, Callignee and Hazelwood North. It's domestic asbestos only, one cubic metre at most. Toongabbie straddles the boundary: the township is Latrobe, but parts of the locality to the east and north are Wellington Shire, and Wellington residents use Kilmany instead.
• Wrap it the way the gate wants it. Council asks for domestic asbestos double-wrapped in heavy black builders' plastic, in packages of 20 kilograms or less. Its page warns that loads not wrapped that way, in manageable packages, will not be accepted.
• Pay first, in Morwell. Council takes the payment at its headquarters building, 141 Commercial Road in Morwell. The fee on the council's May 2026 page is $69 a cubic metre for Latrobe residents. Keep the receipt. The landfill gatehouse can't take money.
• Book with the weighbridge. Ring the weighbridge operator on 0400 506 474 for an appointment. It runs on weekdays; confirm the time when you book rather than trusting an old listing.
• Drive out. The council lists the landfill at 64 Bartons Lane, Loy Yang, off the Hyland Highway. Hand the receipt over at the gatehouse.

Fees change, usually from 1 July. A quick call to council on 1300 367 700 costs less than a wasted trip to Loy Yang.

About the landfill itself

Hyland Highway opened in May 2009. In December 2019 EPA Victoria approved an extension that included the permanent disposal of household asbestos, after it's held in a designated temporary storage container near the weighbridge. The site otherwise takes commercial operators or visitors by appointment only, which is why you can't just turn up with a trailer on a Saturday.

The same council page lists a separate fee for Baw Baw Shire residents, paid per 20 kilogram package, and says plainly that commercial asbestos, emergency loads included, is not accepted.

When a licensed removalist does the job

A load from a licensed removalist is commercial waste, even if it came off your family home, so it doesn't go through the council's household arrangement. The removalist needs an EPA permission to transport asbestos, logs the load in EPA's Waste Tracker, and takes it to a site authorised to receive it. The cost is normally inside the quote.

Commercial asbestos can travel a long way from the Valley. In 2018, after council refused an on-site asbestos cell at the old Energy Brix plant, up to 500 truckloads were reported heading about 200 kilometres to Bulla. Your shed roof won't go that far, but it's a reminder to ask whoever you engage where your load is going.

Ask for the Waste Tracker record when the job's done. EPA tells householders to request it every time: if a load is ever dumped instead of buried, that record is your evidence you paid for it to go to the right place. File it with any clearance certificate; both are handy if you sell.

Loading the trailer

EPA's older guideline on transporting asbestos, written under the 2009 regulations, sets out a packaging pattern for cement sheet and pipe. It has the articles wetted and kept wet until packed, cutting and breaking kept to a minimum, two layers of polythene about 0.2 millimetres thick laid in the vehicle, the stack kept under a metre high and wrapped completely, the package taped and marked with an asbestos warning, and any packaging damaged on the way repaired or replaced before disposal. The state's current homeowner steps are on asbestos.vic.gov.au; read them before anything comes down.

Latrobe's own limit, 20 kilograms a package, is tighter than a trailer-sized bundle, so plan on a number of smaller parcels rather than one big one.

What won't take it

Not the red bin, not the recycling, and not a general skip. Latrobe City's hard waste collection doesn't take asbestos either, so a wrapped stack on the nature strip will just sit there. A licensed landfill can also refuse a load it isn't happy with, so the booking call is where you find out, not the gate.

Dumped, spilled or done badly: who to ring

The Latrobe Valley Asbestos Taskforce drew up a who-does-what list that council still hosts. In short:

• A big dump on public land: EPA Victoria, 1300 372 842.
• A small amount on council land or a nature strip: Latrobe City, 1300 367 700.
• A business dumping it, or a contractor removing it improperly: WorkSafe Victoria, 1800 136 089, or EPA.
• A homeowner removing it themselves in a way that worries you: Latrobe City.
• Waste stored badly on a house block, or a fibro shed or fence falling apart next door: Latrobe City.

Take photos from a distance and don't touch it.

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