Early waste disposal practices in Antarctica have left a legacy of contaminated sites at occupied and abandoned research stations. Waste management at Antarctic stations before the mid-1980s was similar to elsewhere in the world at that time. Rubbish tips were created in local valleys or bays. Open burning of rubbish was common practice. Rubbish was often bulldozed out onto the sea ice during winter to be carried off with the ice floes when they broke up in summer. Sewage disposal included direct ocean dumping and burning in gas-fired toilets. Over the years, spilt fuel and lubricants from vehicles and machinery have contaminated areas used for fuel storage and vehicle maintenance.

Thankfully, times have changed. Current waste management practices in Antarctica are now more refined. Open disposal of waste is no longer permitted. Today there is between 1 and 10 million cubic metres of contaminated material in Antarctica.

With the ratification of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol) in 1998, all countries operating in the Antarctic are now committed to comprehensive protection of the environment. This is overseen by the Committee for Environmental Protection. The Madrid Protocol specifies that all newly generated waste be removed from Antarctica. Member countries are also obliged to remove old waste, unless the action of removing the waste creates a greater adverse environmental impact than leaving it where it is (read about our contamination research).

Because of shipping limitations, it is not practical to remove all waste for disposal in the countries of origin. Removal of Antarctic soils may also present environmental issues. Containment and on-site clean-ups may offer a more cost-effective solution, but we need to develop remediation techniques that work in extreme Antarctic conditions.

Our environmental remediation and restoration research will:

• provide the scientific basis for procedures, technologies and environmental guidelines to reduce environmental impacts (from chemicals, fuels, metals, sewage, air pollution and non-native species)
• finalise research in support of remediation of all high priority contaminated sites for which Australia is responsible
• collate human impacts research and mitigation in support of environmental protection in Antarctica based on developments since the Protocol was agreed

To do this scientists are investigating:

• tertiary treatment options for station sewage and effluent to reduce the impact on and risks to the environment
• characteristics of fuel products to assist management at spill sites
• remediation technologies for fuel spill and metal contamination that are optimised for cold regions, at contaminated sites in Antarctica and Macquarie Island
• techniques for the development of marine water, marine sediment and terrestrial soil quality guidelines for fuels and metals in the Antarctic and subantarctic
• options for guidelines on sewage discharge and air emissions from Antarctic stations
• pathways for the introduction of non-native species in Antarctica and the subantarctic using data collected during the International Polar Year (2007–09)
• patterns of non-native species distribution and the consequences of such species establishing
• persistent organic pollutant flux and bioaccumulation in East Antarctica to reduce the risks from emerging chemical threats from Antarctic stations and elsewhere