Landfill operations

Since 1991, the Tamala Park landfill site has provided a vital service by managing household waste from across the Perth Metro Area.

Today, approximately 4,000 tonnes of household waste is sent to Tamala Park, each week, for disposal from seven local government authorities. These ‘member councils’ – namely the cities of Joondalup, Perth, Stirling, Vincent and Wanneroo, along with the towns of Cambridge and Victoria Park – represent a population of nearly 800,000 people.

The 250 hectare site at Tamala Park is licensed as a Class 2 Waste Disposal facility, with 22 of those hectares being approved by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for use as landfill.

Each acre dedicated to landfill is known as a ‘cell’. 12 of these cells comprised Stage 1 of landfilling, which was completed in 2004 and has since been covered (‘capped’) and revegetated. Stage two comprised three 'phases'. Phase I was completed in 2009 and capped in 2010. Phase II commenced in 2009 with completion and capping taking place in 2012.

The landfill at Tamala Park is now in Phase III, which will be the final phase of landfill at Tamala Park. Projections for the completion of Phase III have been revised in recent years as the volume and type of waste being sent to landfill have changed.

As of spring 2024, there is approximately 1.3 million cubic metres of ‘air space’ (the volume of space dedicated to landfill) remaining at Tamala Park. This must be filled for Mindarie Regional Council (MRC) to meet the terms of its license.

Levels of waste arriving at Tamala Park have dropped since 2008, meaning the landfill is filling up more slowly than it did previously.

If the current trends continue, we expect that the landfill will be filled sometime in the 2028/29 financial year. However, simply because the landfill is full does not mean that the site will shut immediately. Landfill sites require careful management, even after they have reached the end of their usable life, in order to help rehabilitate the area.

Other site functions – such as the recycling centre and the transfer station – will remain open beyond the lifespan of the landfill.