Tip faces legal action over flyaway rubbish in wild winds

The operator of Melbourne's largest tip faces the prospect of prosecution, after neighbouring properties were left covered in rubbish.

Cleanaway staff spent today picking up litter from properties adjoining the Ravenhall landfill, after thousands of pieces of plastic were blown away by strong winds.

CEO of Victoria's Environment Protection Authority, Nial Finegan, told 9NEWS inspectors were aghast by what they saw.

"The amount of litter beyond the boundary at the Ravenhall site is totally unacceptable", he said.

"My clear expectation of Cleanaway is that every piece of litter beyond the boundary of their fence is cleaned up. The EPA will take action to make sure that does occur."

Nearby residents, who are currently involved in a VCAT fight to stop the tip's expansion plans, described the incident as disgusting.

Head of community action group "Stop the Tip", Marion Martin said it added extra weight to their case.

"They want an expansion of about 30 years, we're not happy with that, I'd like to see it closed immediately", she said.

"They have a licence, they can't adhere to their licence".

In a statement, Cleanaway said litter mitigation actions had been put in place ahead of yesterday's weather system.

"The extreme winds experienced were much higher than planned for causing damage to some of the screens in place", it said.

"Cleanaway takes its environmental and community responsibilities seriously and is investigating further actions that can be undertaken to minimise the risk from future extreme weather events."

Local Greens MP Huong Truong said the incident highlighted the need to reduce reliance on landfill for waste disposal.

"The communities here have been living next to this landfill, and have seen first-hand the problems that come with people not taking responsibility for our waste", she said.

"We know how to reduce the amount of landfill getting in here, we just need the political will to make it happen".

The incident is still under investigation, but the EPA expects to press charges in the coming weeks.