Disposal of Meth Contaminated Property

During the remediation of a property often floor coverings, blinds, woodwork in the property, even sometimes plasterboard etc must be removed. Disposing of this and contaminated goods and chattels is an expensive task and should only be undertaken by an expert wearing protective clothing.

You could be breaking the law if you try to dispose of it yourself as many councils will not allow you to dispose of it in their waste management centres.

This is definitely NOT the way to dispose of contaminated goods.

This was the work of a 'Cowboy'. A very disreputable rogue who deliberately recycled some of our goods and drove off with the rest unprotected to dispose of them God knows where.

Beware of Cowboys, people who are not trained, have no idea what they should be doing and consequently put not only their own health at risk but that of innocent people who may come into contact with the goods at a later time. Or worse might innocently buy contaminated goods on Facebook sites, Gum Tree or from a recycle centres or Op shops.

In an unregulated industry Cowboys are everywhere

We fell victim to using the services of a disreputable cowboy. Having told us he could clean some of our furniture he turned up with his wife and too late it became obvious neither of them really knew what they were doing. Everything they supposedly 'cleaned' had to be done again.

When he arrived to dispose of our goods he came with an open trailer (not a skip that could be closed off). He had no plastic to wrap goods in, he and his two workers had no protective equipment at all, in fact he hadn't even told the young male who only started working with him that morning that he was handling Meth contaminated goods.

We found out too late that he took some of the goods to a traditional waste disposal centre and some of the goods were taken to a recycle centre. Whilst a couple of items were placed in the back of his car.

What's wrong with that you may ask?

Goods taken to a recycle centre are to be used again. This time by unsuspecting new owners who would never understand why they were getting ill because their house may test negative but the new couch they just got is riddled with Meth.
WHS was totally ignored by this man. If he exposes his workers like this in our home what else will he expose them to without telling them?
If any of the goods had been taken to an Op shop then they can potentially contaminate other items in the Op shop.

Whilst regulations state the goods must be double wrapped and disposed of in a similar manner to asbestos, it appears no-one is actually monitoring if this occurs or not, leaving everyone at risk of exposure.

Be careful what you buy

Be very careful what you buy in the buy swap sell sites. Addicts will sell anything they can to get money for drugs. If the items have been in the home whilst they were smoking Meth then they are contaminated. You could be placing your family's health at risk and the 'cheap' item may turn out to be a very expensive purchase in the long run.