Mugga Lane landfill rubbish seen strewn over nearby farms

The operators of the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre say appropriate measures are in place to keep waste on site, after rubbish from the facility was seen strewn several hundred metres away.

Piles of rubbish from the facility have been seen littering paddocks and neighbouring farms in recent weeks, some seen just metres from sheep and other animals.

The strewn rubbish comes after strong winds of more than 50km/h have been felt across Canberra in recent days and during late November.

Among the large amounts of rubbish seen across the Hume properties near the facility include many large plastic bags and drink bottles, some caught on fences.

A City Services spokesman said the resource facility had measures in place to prevent rubbish being blown into neighbouring areas.

"The Mugga Lane landfill is managed according to best practice principles, including limiting open tipping areas, compaction of waste to limit air-blown litter and has a process in place to cover the landfill with tarpaulins at the end of every day," the spokesman said.

"There are also a number of litter fences around the Mugga Lane site to reduce litter from exiting the site."

City Services said they had not received complaints from nearby land owners about the rubbish from the landfill being strewn over their site.

"The ACT government along with the Mugga Resource Management Centre contractor Remondis and contractor Re.Group work closely with neighbouring landowners to ensure waste is actively managed," the City Services spokesman said.

"The resource management centre contractor Remondis undertakes litter picking across the Mugga site and neighbouring properties on a daily basis.

"Re.Group also runs litter picks on a weekly basis."

In the past financial year, more than 250,000 tonnes of waste went to landfill at Mugga Lane and West Belconnen.

That figure is almost half of the amount of waste sent to landfill in 2016-17 with more than 511,000 tonnes sent.

Mugga Lane will soon become the only landfill site in the ACT with West Belconnen shutting down operations in 2021.

An upgrade to Mugga Lane was announced in the 2017-18 budget which will see $25 million spent to upgrade the landfill's capacity until at least 2030.

City Services Minister Chris Steel said earlier this year there was the potential to fund further expansions to the landfill through until 2050.

However, Mr Steel said by that point, the ACT might have to consider using landfill facilities over the border.