Trade waste

Trade waste is any water-borne waste from business, trade or manufacturing premises. This does not include waste that is a prohibited substance, human waste or stormwater, under the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008.

Businesses throughout the Isaac region generate and therefore need to dispose of liquid wastes; this discharge must be managed by Isaac Regional Council’s sewerage infrastructure and treatment facilities. Council must protect its infrastructure and health of its staff by setting guidelines for what can and cannot enter the sewage treatment system. As such businesses must seek approval before discharging wastewater to Council infrastructure or facilities.

All commercial and service industry businesses that discharge to the sewer are required to apply for and hold a Trade Waste Approval. This approval allows businesses to discharge liquid waste to Isaac Regional Council's sewer. There are strict acceptance criteria which all discharge must meet and these requirements are listed within the Trade Waste Environmental Management Procedure. Discharge which does not comply with the Trade Waste Environmental Management Procedure is required to be pre-treated before being discharged.

Isaac Regional Council has a Trade Waste Policy(PDF, 129KB) and a Trade Waste Environmental Management Procedure(PDF, 979KB) which outline how liquid trade waste will be managed within the region.

If your business generates liquid waste and discharges it to Council’s sewer system, you will need lodge an Application for Trade Waste Approval(PDF, 351KB).

If you need to cancel your existing Trade Waste Approval, you will need to lodge a Cancellation of Trade Waste Approval form(PDF, 572KB).

Council has put together some information fact sheets relating to trade waste:

Trade Waste FAQ(PDF, 1MB)
Trade Waste – Food Business Fact Sheet(PDF, 1MB)
Trade Waste – Medical Fact Sheet(PDF, 1MB)

For more information contact Council’s Community Education & Compliance Department for assistance on 1300 ISAACS (1300 472 227).