Littering and Illegal Dumping
What is litter?
Litter is small pieces of rubbish, and are most commonly cigarette butts, food wrappers or containers, drink containers and takeaway food packaging. Littering occurs when it is placed on the ground or is allowed to be blown or washed into a public place. Therefore, allowing waste to be blown from a trailer or truck is treated the same as someone placing it on the ground deliberately.
Why is litter bad?
Litter makes our towns, rivers, parks and reserves look like rubbish! Plastic litter can take many years to break down and is damaging to the environment. The chemicals in cigarette butts can kill many insects and small animals that live in our rivers – animals that feed fish and local platypus. And glass bottles can be dangerous and even start fires during hot sunny weather.
For that reason, people found to be littering can be fined $75 - $365
It’s easy to prevent litter every day:
- put your rubbish in a bin
- take your rubbish with you if no bin is available
- keep a container in the car to collect rubbish
- put your cigarette butt in a butt bin, or ordinary litter bin when extinguished
- keep materials secured so they do not blow or fall from your car, truck or ute
Litter can be reported by:
- Contacting the Council's Environment Section on (02) 6333 6211
- Online using the EPA website at www.epa.nsw.gov.au/litter or by clicking here
- Littering from a vehicle can be reported using the EPA mobile app "Report to EPA", available for free on iPhone, Android and other mobile devices
What is illegal dumping?
Illegal dumping is the placing – dumping, tipping or otherwise – of waste larger than litter onto land or into water.
Illegal dumping varies from small bags of rubbish to larger scale dumping of waste materials, furniture or appliances in isolated areas, such as bushland or rural roads. All of it looks bad, and some of it can be hazardous!
Everyday material when deposited in the wrong place or left to degrade can cause long-term pollution or contamination. This includes construction waste or fill from building sites, batteries, chemical drums, asbestos and bags of household rubbish.
The Bathurst Waste Management Centre is carefully managed to receive waste and ensure it is contained onsite. Tipping fees are to cover the ongoing cost of managing that waste – forever. Council charges people using the facility now rather than placing a cost on residents in the future.
A trailer load of rubbish may only cost around $25 to take to the Waste Management Centre. Fines can be as much as $8,000 and Council can also recover clean-up costs from those responsible.
See it? Report it!
If you see waste in a public place you can report it to Council. Illegal waste will be investigated and may result in a fine. Council will also arrange for the waste to be removed by those responsible or take steps to recover clean-up costs if possible
What information do you need to report?
- Date and time
- Location
- A description of the dumped waste
Additional information may include:
- A photograph of the waste and the surrounding area
- Information which may assist in identifying the source of the waste, for example the number plate of a vehicle seen dumping waste
- Risks or possible risks to the environment or human health, for example if the waste contains batteries, broken glass or other hazards
Please do not attempt to identify the person yourself by approaching them or by picking through the waste items.
Illegal dumping can be reported by
- Contacting the Council's Environment Section on (02) 6333 6211
- Contacting the EPA Environment Line on 131 555
- Using the EPA mobile app "Report to EPA", available for free on iPhone, Android and other mobile devices
- Using the EPA online portal www.ridonline.nsw.gov.au
For more information about the Waste Management Centre click here...
Contaminated Fill
Contaminated fill can cause harm to human health and the environment, and the landowner will be responsible for any clean-up costs, fines or prosecution. Contaminated fill may include building or demolition waste, chemicals or chemical residue, or asbestos. Land contamination can permanently devalue your property.
Clean fill can also cause damage to the environment if it spills or erodes into watercourses or over habitat areas.
Before accepting fill you need to find out whether you need approval from Council to accept the fill and use it for your intended purposes.
When accepting fill on your land:
- be certain it is not contaminated
- check the supplier and the source. Ask for proof of identification and information such as the address of the source, a waste classification and consider inspecting the source.
- If you are concerned about the quality of the fill, request that the material is sampled and analysed for potential contaminants before accepting it. Always ask to see the original laboratory results. Supplying false or misleading information is an offence.
- Supervise delivery of all loads of fill onto your property to ensure that you receive only what you have ordered.
- Keep copies of all documents and communication about the fill you receive, including the name and address of the supplier and transporter, the registration details of all vehicles that transport fill to your property, and ask drivers for proof of identity or employment, such as their driver’s licence or company delivery dockets.
For more information, or to report contaminated fill, contact the Council's Environment Section on (02) 6333 6511.
More information can be found at www.epa.nsw.gov.au/illegaldumping/landfill