The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Recycled Concrete Products Pty Ltd (RCP) $30,000 after the company breached a Prevention Notice ordering it to stop accepting waste at its Tomago recycling facility near Newcastle.
RCP converts used concrete, bricks and pavers into products such as road base and is licensed to process up to 30,000 tonnes of concrete waste each year.
In December 2024, the EPA issued a Prevention Notice directing the company to stop accepting waste until 25 March 2025, after it exceeded its annual limit. Despite this, EPA inspections revealed that RCP continued to receive up to 600 tonnes of additional waste during the restricted period — the equivalent weight of about 300 average-sized cars.
The breach follows an earlier $30,000 fine in March 2025, when the EPA penalised the company for exceeding its annual waste limit by more than 25,000 tonnes, the original incident that triggered the Prevention Notice.
EPA Director of Operations David Gathercole said the company’s repeated non-compliance puts the local environment at risk.
“This isn’t a one-off mistake. It’s the second time the EPA has fined RCP this year for accepting waste they are not permitted to,” Mr Gathercole said.
“Compliance orders and waste limits are set to protect waterways, air quality and the surrounding community. Ignoring them undermines those protections and increases the risk of pollution run-off or dust escaping into the local environment.”
The EPA confirmed it is continuing to monitor RCP’s operations and may consider harsher regulatory responses if the company continues to breach its licence conditions.
RCP has since resumed operations and is required to submit strict reporting to the EPA.
