Sydney's most notorious waste dumper has been sentenced to three years jail for his crimes and will be made to pay for newspaper ads publicising his punishment.
Dib Hanna has repeatedly been caught illegally dumping asbestos around Sydney over the past decade, but had previously escaped with fines and suspended prison sentences.
On Thursday the Land and Environment Court sentenced him to three years' prison, with a non-parole period of two years and three months for dumping waste on private properties in East Kurrajong, Llandilo and Wallacia in 2015 and 2016.
He was also ordered to clean up the dumped waste, pay the Environment Protection Authority's legal costs and take out newspaper advertisements publicising his punishment as a deterrent to other would-be offenders.
Hanna was arrested in Victoria last year over the crimes and extradited to New South Wales to face the charges.
It was the first time that a person had been extradited in relation to environmental offences and Hanna is the first serial dumper to be jailed under anti-dumping legislation that has been in place in New South Wales since 2014.
He later pleaded guilty to one charge of illegal transport of waste and four counts of illegal dumping of waste.
The court heard Hanna advertised free clean top soil, clay, crushed bitumen and the use of an excavation machines to Sydney residents via a letterbox drop.
When contacted by interested residents, he sent truck drivers to dump more than 460 thousand kilograms of waste, including asbestos, at their homes.
The Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton welcomed the prison sentence, saying it sent a strong message that illegal waste dumping would not be tolerated.
"It is an appropriate sentence for Hanna, who took advantage of innocent people for his own financial benefit," Ms Upton said in a statement.
"Today's result will serve as an important warning to those thinking of breaking the law."
She said landowners should be extremely cautious when accepting topsoil and be on the lookout for dodgy operators.
