Waste industry leaders in New South Wales and Victoria have expressed alarm over comments made by Wentworth's Mayor that asbestos should be 'shredded' before being transported safely.

The Mayor, Don McKinnon, was quoted in the Mildura Weekly on Friday saying that asbestos is safe to be transported if shredded:

"Asbestos is considered extremely safe to transport once prepared correctly, which involves putting it through a shredder to make it inert," he is quoted as saying.

Andrew Titherleigh, from the Victorian Waste Management Association, says the claims are a serious cause for concern and he has referred the comments to Victoria's Environment Protection Authority.

"My New South Wales counterpart has referred this particular report to his WorkSafe agencies and EPA and I've also referred this report to our EPA here in Victoria," says Mr Titherleigh.

Tony Khoury, from the New South Wales Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association, says he's alarmed by the statement.

"If that's what they're doing he should be arrested, sent to jail, locked up; chuck the keys away - you do not shred asbestos waste.

"If you shred asbestos waste you're putting all those fibres into the air," says Mr Khoury.

A spokesperson from the New South Wales EPA says they do not endorse the shredding of asbestos, nor are they aware of it as an industry practice.

"There are clear rules around the transport, disposal and reuse of asbestos in the NSW POEO Waste Regulation designed to minimise any potential dust and the EPA has contacted both Wentworth Council and the facility to ensure that these are being followed," says the spokesperson.

The Victorian EPAs' guidelines for the transport and disposal of asbestos can be found here, while information from the New South Wales' EPA's guidelines on asbestos are found here.

Wider concerns

The comments come in the wake of revelations that the Wentworth Shire will expand its landfill in Buronga to accept 30,000 tonnes of waste, including asbestos.

Much of the waste being received at the landfill is expected to come from interstate, including from metropolitan Melbourne.

Trucks carrying industrial waste are understood to have already brought tonnes of waste from the wider metropolitan area to Buronga.

Mr Khoury says there are wider concerns about the transfer of metropolitan waste to rural landfills, and says companies are doing it purely to avoid government levies.

"It's about economics.

"The waste levies were put in place by the various governments to give incentives to generators of waste to divert material away from waste and promote recycling initiatives.

"The waste levy wasn't designed to be a subsidy for long distance transport; that's what's happened now.

"The waste levy is so high in metropolitan areas, and it doesn't exist in rural areas, that it's become a subsidy to cover the cost of long distance transport from metropolitan areas to rural areas."

Mr Khoury says transporting industrial landfill between Victoria and New South Wales undermines the entire industry, and that waste levies need an overhall across the three states.

"It should be the same levy rate in all states, and I don't think that's gonna happen, because you know, politics being politics, I can't imagine you're going to get three state governments to agree on a consistent approach to waste management.

"But that's the only way to fix the issue," he says.

Acknowledging the mistake

Wentworth's Mayor, Don McKinnon, says his comments were mistaken, caused by miscommunication between himself and the newspaper reporter.

"So I need to correct that, because even in my own job I have to deal with asbestos, and you're not allowed to disturb it."

He says he was looking at some paperwork from the EPA that listed special waste and how it must be treated, and that tyres were listed along with asbestos as being in the special waste category.

"And I said: 'we shred those'," says Cr McKinnon.

"I made a mistake that I didn't identify the difference between the tyres and the asbestos."

"Asbestos must be double-wrapped, presented to people at the tip face, and they then relocate it to a cell that has been especially treated for it," he says.