Trade waste is water-borne waste from business, trade or manufacturing activities, excluding human waste, stormwater and prohibited substances.
Categories of trade waste
We group businesses into five categories:
- Low impact: e.g. hairdressers, medical clinics.
- Mechanical: e.g. workshops with oils, solvents, coolants.
- Food industry: e.g. kitchens producing grease, fats, food scraps.
- High flow, low impact: e.g., swimming pool backwash.
- High strength, high impact: businesses producing wastewater above sewer admission limits.
Trade waste is any liquid waste or wastewater produced by a business or industry that goes into the sewer. It's different from normal household waste, such as water from toilets, showers or staff lunchrooms.
Trade waste can come from small, low‑impact activities like general cleaning, hair washing or colouring and food preparation. It can also come from larger activities where wastewater is a big part of daily operations, such as manufacturing or food processing.
What you are required to do
- Submit a trade waste application and pay the trade waste licence discharge fee.
- Install required pre-treatment devices (e.g. grease arrestors, oily water separators).
- Maintain and service devices regularly using licensed operators.
- Comply with the Trade Waste Policy and Management Plan.
- Be subject to regular audits by trade waste officers.
Apply now
If you’re not sure how our trade waste requirements may apply to your business, please contact us
via email or calling
131 872.
Pre‑treatment devices remove pollutants from wastewater before it enters the sewerage network. Common types include:
- grease arrestors
- silt arrestors
- oil arrestors
- coalescing plate separators
- vertical gravity separators
- holding tanks
- dilution tanks
- soak tanks
- acid neutralisers
- onsite treatment plants.
These devices must be serviced regularly by a licensed liquid waste transporter. The required servicing frequency is determined by:
- the size of the device
- the volume of trade waste entering the device
- the types of pollutants present in the trade waste
- assessment for overload factors and compliance with manufacturers specifications.
When we issue your trade waste approval, we will advise how often your pre‑treatment devices must be serviced.
Based on inspections, audits or monitoring results, we may update your servicing requirements. If this happens, you will be notified in writing, and this will form part of your approval to discharge trade waste.
Minimum requirements for new businesses
- Cleaner’s sink for wastewater from cleaning activities.
- Screens on sinks and floor waste outlets.
Treatment and disposal options
| Type of business |
Waste type |
Treatment |
|
Beauty salons
|
- Cotton buds and balls
- Oils
- Tanning solutions
- Massage oils
- Laundering
|
|
|
Dental/medical/veterinary surgeries
|
- Amalgam rinse water
- Plaster
- Sanitising agents
- X-ray development waste
|
- Bottle trap and cleaners sink.
- Plaster arrestor
- Fixer for recycling
- Screening at sink/dry basket arrestor
- Silver recovery.
|
| Florists |
|
- Screening at sink and floor waste.
|
| Hairdressing salons |
- Hair, hair clips and pins
- Cotton buds and cotton balls
|
- Screening at sink and floor waste.
|
| Hobby clubs |
Suspended solids |
- Dry basket arrestor (as advised by a trade waste officer).
- Plastic arrestor or under sink trap (as advised by a trade waste officer).
|
| Opticians |
Suspended solids |
|
| Pet shops/grooming |
|
- Screening at sink.
- Screening of hydro bath outlet
- Dry basket arrestors at sinks and hydro bath drainage.
|
| Photographic/x-ray processing |
- Rinse water
- Spent solutions
|
- To sewer after silver recovery or collect fixer for recycling.
|
| School labs and art rooms
|
|
- Sediment and neutralising trap.
|
Legal requirements for all mechanical businesses
- Obtain a trade waste approval.
- Be subject to regular audits from trade waste officers who will advise on trade waste issues and ensure compliance under the Water Supply (Safety & Reliability) Act 2008 and our Trade Waste Policy and Trade Waste Management Plan (TWMP).
- Any business found not to be compliant with the relevant legislation and policy requirements will be required to upgrade their present facility to meet the minimum standards.
Treatment and disposal options
Choose the best option for your business:
Option one: dry process (hand washing only)
A dry process means your workshop is not connected to sewer or stormwater systems and has no floor drains or wash bays. This option is the safest for the sewer system and saves you money because you don’t need to meet pre-treatment standards.
What your business must do
- Get a current trade waste approval.
- Wash dirty hands only in an approved hand wash basin that drains to the sewer. Do not use other taps or hoses inside or outside the premises.
- Clearly label the hand wash basin for business use.
- Install bunds (barriers) to keep rainwater and spills from escaping. Our minimum bunding specifications apply.
- Sweep or mop floors only; never use a hose.
- Make sure vehicles are fully inside the bunded area before starting work.
- Clean engine parts in an approved parts washer (recycler).
- Do not wash vehicles, equipment or engine bays.
- Wipe up spills immediately using absorbent materials.
- Use trays to catch oil drips from vehicles.
- Install bunds around oil storage areas to prevent leaks into sewer or stormwater.
- Collect radiator fluids, brake fluids, oils, solvents, paints, degreasers and fuels in drums for pickup by an EPA-approved licensed liquid waste transporter.
- Store batteries in a bunded area on a plastic pallet. Do not store acid batteries outside. Spills should drain to a blind sump (not sewer or stormwater). Remove batteries for recycling as soon as possible.
Option two: on-site systems for the collection or recycling of wastewater
If your business collects wastewater on-site and doesn't release it to the sewer or stormwater, you may be exempt from installing pre-treatment equipment.
What your business must do
- Get a trade waste approval, to allow hand washing to be discharged to the sewer.
- All wastewater from wash bays or parts washing sinks must go into holding tanks.
- Wastewater must be collected and disposed of by a licensed liquid waste transporter
- Only water from an approved hand wash basin can go to the sewer.
- Make sure stored wastewater meets your ERA license conditions. If you wash onsite and don’t have an ERA license, you may need to apply for one.
- Follow rules for how much regulated waste you can store.
- Do not discharge wastewater to sewer (except hand washing) or stormwater.
Wastewater holding tanks
Once wastewater is stored in a holding tank and not connected to sewer, it is no longer trade waste. It may be classed as regulated waste under environmental laws, which could affect your ERA license or require you to get one. Contact us before installing a holding tank to check licensing requirements.
Choose a tank size that can be serviced easily and prevents overflows or leaks into stormwater or the environment.
Storing regulated waste
Large amounts of regulated waste may change your site’s approval. For advice, contact:
Option three: discharge liquid wastewater to sewer
This option means your work area is connected to the sewer (not stormwater). It requires installing pre-treatment devices to remove silt, oil, grease and petroleum hydrocarbons before discharge.
What your business must do
- Get a trade waste approval to discharge all liquid waste to sewer (with pre-treatment and compliance to sewer limits).
- Install a trade waste sub-meter.
- Ensure effluent from pre-treatment drains only to sewer, not stormwater or the environment.
- Keep stormwater separate; it must not enter the sewer.
- Install a wash bay that meets minimum standards. Contact us for a guide.
- Service pre-treatment devices regularly as per manufacturer and our requirements.
- Use pressure cleaners and quick-break detergents that break within 15 minutes.
- Clean spills immediately, use trays under leaks and wash floors only in the designated wet area.
- Never drain neat fuel or oil into pits connected to oil/water separators.
- Collect coolants, brake fluid, oils and fuels in drums for licensed off-site removal.
- Store batteries in a bunded area on a plastic pallet; spills must drain to a blind sump. Remove batteries for recycling promptly.
- Wash small parts in a solvent-based recycling parts washer.
- Wash hands only in an approved hand wash basin connected to sewer; clearly sign it.
- Do not discharge chemical bath liquids to sewer. Arrange licensed removal.
Sewer contaminant limits
- Silt (suspended solids): 500 mg/L.
- Oil and grease: 200 mg/L.
- Petroleum hydrocarbons: 30 mg/L.
Wastewater from food businesses is considered trade waste. It often contains remnants cooking oil, grease, fat, food scraps, organic matter and potentially strong cleaning chemicals.
The build up of oil, fat and grease over time can create a big problem because they stick to pipe walls, causing blockages and sewer overflows into homes, businesses and the environment.
Overflows are unpleasant, expensive to clean and can impact the whole community. If a business deliberately tips waste down the sink, the owner may be held responsible.
Ways to reduce greasy waste:
- scrape food scraps into the bin before washing
- use less cooking oil where possible
- pour used oil into a container for recycling, never down the sink
- wipe grease from plates and utensils before washing
- dry sweep floors before wet cleaning
- fit strainers to all sink outlets
- store cleaning chemicals safely to prevent spills
- have your grease arrestor pumped out regularly by a licensed transporter.
Food related businesses that require trade waste approval and grease arrestors
- Bakeries/pies shops
- Butchers
- Bistros
- Canteens
- Catering
- Cafeterias
- Chicken/poultry shops
- Child care centres
- Clubs with kitchens
- Coffee shops
- Community halls
- Delicatessens
- Doughnut shops
- Fast foods
- Fish shops
- Hospitals
- Hotels
- Home based catering
- Ice cream parlours
- Motels
- Nursing homes
- Restaurants
- Supermarkets
- Takeaway food shops
While this list is comprehensive it may not include all businesses that need to follow these regulations.
Minimum requirements for new businesses
- Submit a trade waste application and pay the trade waste licence discharge fee.
- Install a sub water meter, or meters, to measure water used in trade waste process areas.
- Installation of a dedicated cleaner's sink may be required.
- The inclusion of an approved style of dry basked arrestor may be required in certain circumstances for sinks and floor wastes in food preparation/cleaning areas.
- Install an approved grease arrestor. The size and pump-out frequency will be determined by our trade waste officers. Installation must be done by a licenced plumber/drainer.
Apply now
Sub water meters
- A plumbing permit may be required for installation.
- Meters are used to calculate the volume of trade waste being discharged to sewer and may be used as part of any volumetric component to trade waste charges
Grease arrestors
- Must be cleaned by a licensed liquid waste contractor.
- Cleaning intervals are determined by our trade waste officers.
Pre-treatment and servicing
All pre-treatment devices must be serviced by a licensed liquid waste transporter in line with our Trade Waste Management Plan (TWMP).
Minimum requirements for businesses
- Metering of volume discharged to sewer from trade waste areas.
- Screens on sinks and floor waste outlets.
- Oily water separator, where required.*
- Pre-treatment system sized for your waste type and volume.
| Type of business |
Waste type |
Treatment requirements |
| Commercial swimming pool |
- Backwash water with solids
- Chemicals
|
- Metering system; may need holding tank with restricted flow.*
|
| Commercial car wash |
|
- Oily water separator, holding tanks which may include recycling.*
|
| Laundromat |
|
- Silt/lint trap/cooling trap.*
|
| Commercial laundry |
|
- Cooling trap and lint screens.*
|
* To be assessed by a trade waste officer.
This category applies to businesses that produce high-strength wastewater that exceeds standard sewer limits.
For these businesses:
- Discharge limits may be negotiated subject to network and treatment capacity.
- Discharge is monitored regularly through sampling and testing to protect sewer infrastructure and treatment plants.
For further information regarding category five discharge, please contact us by calling 131 872 and ask for the Principal Trade Waste Officer.