Illegal Dumping

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. Not only does it look bad, but it can also be hazardous.

Material when deposited in the wrong place or left to degrade can cause long-term pollution or contamination. These dangerous materials include construction waste or fill from building sites, batteries, chemical drums, asbestos and bags of household rubbish.

What can you do?

You can help manage the problem of illegal dumping by correctly disposing of your own waste items and reporting any incidents of illegal dumping to Council.

The Bathurst Waste Management Centre is carefully managed to receive waste and ensure it is contained onsite. While minimal tipping fees are charged, these fees cover the ongoing cost of managing the waste onsite – forever. Council charges people using the facility now rather than placing a cost on residents in the future.

Illegal dumping fines can be as much as $8,000 and Council can also recover clean-up costs from those responsible.