The Rubbish Police: Three strikes, and you’re in the sin bin
Putting rubbish in your recycling bin? Misuse your green bin? The waste management company responsible for seven Adelaide council areas wants to implement a three strike policy — and on the third, you’re fined.
Households and business owners across dozens of Adelaide suburbs caught repeatedly putting rubbish in the wrong bins could be fined in a bid to improve recycling habits.
Under a proposed “three-strikes policy” those caught “blatantly” abusing their three-bin service would be warned twice then fined.
The proposed crackdown would affect ratepayers and residents across seven metropolitan councils whose bins are collected by East Waste.
East Waste general manager Rob Gregory said the proposal, identified as an “immediate opportunity”, would be a way to educate residents and reduce rubbish going to landfill.
“We’re not interested in the one chip packet that ends up in the recycling (bin),” he said.
“We understand from time to time people are going to throw in a meat tray with a bit of plastic … it is about the blatant disregard.
“It’s one avenue we need to take … we think targeting individuals that are doing the wrong thing is the way to go.”
East Waste collects rubbish for Burnside, Campbelltown, Mitcham, Norwood Payneham & St Peters, Prospect, Walkerville and Adelaide Hills councils.
Councils would set any penalty should they adopt a policy to financially punish offenders, Mr Gregory said.
“We would be recommending that there is a three-step process where, ultimately, the first letter is information and education,” he said.
“(The) second letter would be a warning. And the third one would be that the message is not being received and that is where we would advocate for an expiation.”
Rubbish trucks are equipped with cameras to identify potential contamination when bins are emptied.
Drivers can also log addresses of those ratepayers potentially doing the wrong thing. Clothing or plastic bags thrown into a recycling bin can cause damage to machinery or lead to truckloads of recyclables being diverted to landfill.
East Waste’s proposal comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced state leaders had agreed to ban recyclable waste being exported overseas, saying dealing with it was “our responsibility”.
The State Government unexpectedly increased its solid waste levy – the price per tonne councils are charged to dump waste in landfill – by almost 40 per cent in its last budget. Some councils increased rates higher than planned to cover the tax hike.
Waste costs for councils can be reduced if residents use recycling and organic bins correctly, reducing the amount of general rubbish.
Prospect Mayor David O’Loughlin, also the national Local Government Association president, said he had no set position on the proposal, but said councils needed to look at all options, including enforcement.
“If you’re soft on people forever some people never change their minds,” he said.
Walkerville Mayor Elizabeth Fricker said her council preferred a “soft approach” that focused on education rather than fines and was in the process of establishing a waste advisory group to find ways to “improve” its waste management.
Campbelltown Mayor Jill Whittaker said contamination was a “huge issue” for councils and supported educating residents to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Burnside Mayor Anne Monceaux was also unsure if punishment was the best option.
However, recycling advocate Leanne Dangerfield, who runs a program to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill through her Campbelltown business The Battery Co, supported the move.
“Sometimes people do not listen to the recycling message and might need a negative reminder to encourage them to do what is right,” she said.
