Preventative measures have come into focus after bonded asbestos was found in recycled mulch across more than a dozen Sydney sites, including beside a new children's playground.
Further concerns were raised on Monday about the use of granular construction and demolition waste as a soil substitute at playgrounds, childcare centres and other areas of NSW.
About 700,000 tonnes of recovered fines are reused in NSW every year, with about half likely to not pass compliance checks, Greens MP Sue Higginson said.
Sue Higginson called for better resourcing of the EPA so asbestos could not be reused. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)
She called for better resourcing of the environment regulator so asbestos and other potentially hazardous materials could not be reused.
Victoria closely tracked hazardous materials and held polluters to stringent liability while Queensland sent contaminated products straight into landfill, Ms Higginson said.
"We should be doing better than both of those other states," she said.
"We need strong regulations, a resourced and empowered regulator, and we need a system that protects people and the environment from harmful products."
The NSW Environment Protection Agency (EPA) in 2022 backed down from increased regulation of recovered fines after pushback from the skip-bin industry.
The watchdog said it would instead focus on education and increased monitoring to improve the quality of future recovered fines.
Ahead of a meeting with EPA leadership on Monday, Premier Chris Minns said he wanted to be satisfied the rules in place were sufficiently robust to allow the independent regulator to act.
He acknowledged the situation was not good enough, particularly for communities in the Sydney suburbs of Rozelle and Penrith, who had been fenced out of parkland while contaminated material was removed.
But recycling material for further use in construction was done "with the best of intentions", he said.
"We've got to make sure we can get it right and other cities and states and jurisdictions do it better than us.
"But I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater."
The EPA has been contacted for comment.
Ms Higginson warned inaction could mean another 350,000 tonnes of contaminated soil could be distributed this year to sensitive areas "where human exposure is inevitable".
"Enough is enough," she said.
Under its current powers, the EPA has stopped one company from supplying further recycled mulch after it was linked to several contaminated sites in recent weeks.
It has also ordered the remediation of all affected locations including the newly opened Rozelle Parklands, in inner-city Sydney.
Removal of the 10 tonnes of recycled mulch scattered across the parklands began on Monday. The park is not expected to reopen until April.
28°C