Perth has asked state government advocacy to secure a practical closure pathway for Tamala Park, while the state reiterates MRC remains responsible for the site and continues environmental risk monitoring with DWER.

The City of Perth seeks state help to formalize a closure plan for the Tamala Park Waste Facility as leachate levels rise.

Estimated off-site leachate treatment costs for 2025 span from tens of millions to more than a billion, with current projections for Mindarie Regional Council and its members in the hundreds of millions depending on cost-sharing arrangements.

Tamala Park currently holds nearly 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools of leachate, with the bottom liner space reaching 167 Olympic pools as of October 2024.

A new leachate volume forecast to the Department of Water and Environment Regulation shows a sharp rise—from about 417,000 to roughly 2.07 million cubic metres—complicating waste management and gas extraction.

The shift comes after years of planning for a waste-to-energy contract once Tamala Park reaches capacity, though Joondalup and Wanneroo pulled back support, reducing overall participation.

Five Perth-area councils have been authorized by Mindarie Regional Council to divert red-bin waste from Tamala Park to ACCIONA’s Kwinana Energy Recovery facility, potentially powering more than 50,000 homes.

Five of seven councils have exemptions to send waste to other facilities before Tamala Park’s closure, but no firm alternative has been secured, leaving the site in limbo.

Tamala Park’s originally planned 2028 closure is endangered by excessive leachate; the site is only partially lined, and a proposed piggyback liner/leachate management area was rejected by DWER, creating regulatory and logistical hurdles.

Mindarie Regional Council is weighing a Waste-to-Energy deal, with a formal report expected to the City of Perth in September; DWER did not comment for this article.

Participating councils—City of Perth, City of Stirling, City of Vincent, and the Towns of Cambridge and Victoria Park—must individually endorse the transition, with a phased rollout expected as smaller councils join.

DWER issued an Environmental Protection Notice on August 3 requiring leachate measurements, removal planning, better landfill gas management, closure planning updates, and further investigations, with a 30-day compliance window.