In short:
Expired hand sanitiser collected from a Truganina warehouse was illegally dumped in Gippsland, leading to a court fine for waste firm Rellik and a good behaviour bond for its officer. The EPA traced the incident after community reports and ensured the site was cleared.
370,000L of sanitiser dumped in Gippsland
A waste management company has been fined after hundreds of pallets containing expired hand sanitiser were illegally dumped in rural Gippsland, following collection from a warehouse in Truganina.
The 370,000 litres of expired sanitiser were officially bound for a licensed recycling facility in Moama, New South Wales, but were instead delivered to a property in Woodside, within Gippsland’s Wellington Shire.
EPA Victoria began investigating in April 2024 after receiving community reports of suspicious trucking activity. Officers located the dumped pallets and issued the property owner with a notice to remove them, as they were not licensed to receive such waste. The hand sanitiser has since been removed and disposed of lawfully.
The waste trail led to Rellik Group Pty Ltd, a company specialising in product destruction, which had subcontracted the transport. The mismanagement resulted in the improper dumping.
On 9 September 2025, Rellik Group pleaded guilty in Sale Magistrates’ Court. The company was fined $10,000 without conviction, ordered to pay $4,000 in court costs, and directed to publish details of the offence in an industry publication.
A company officer, Mr Marcus Galbraith, also pleaded guilty. He received a 12-month good behaviour bond without conviction and was ordered to contribute $2,000 to the court fund.
