North shore: illegal dumping surges during coronavirus outbreak
Rangers are stepping up patrols to target illegal waste dumping across Sydney’s north shore after a surge in reported incidents was recorded in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
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Rangers across Sydney’s north shore are stepping up their war on illegally dumped waste after a spike in recorded incidents following the outbreak of COVID-19.
Increased patrols, fines and an educational campaign are among measures councils are taking in response to the sharp rise in the amount of illegal and household rubbish appearing on the region’s nature strips.
Willoughby Council recorded 142 incidents of illegal dumping between March to June this year, prompting rangers to issue 11 warnings and five fines for rubbish illegally disposed on nature strips and at waste facilities.
Council figures show the number of items left of the region’s footpaths meanwhile topped 890 during the four month period – up 36 per cent from 2019, while general household waste increased by 12 per cent to 4621 tonnes.
Residents using the lockdown to get around to overgrown gardening projects also had green waste up 25 per cent from 2019 with 2423 tonnes collected over the period.
Willoughby mayor Gail Giles-Gidney said the spike in illegal and household waste was not just limited to the region’s apartment blocks with changes to households resulting in some residents struggling to fit their weekly rubbish in bins for collections.
“Change in households have had an impact on waste and consumption, particularly when families have combined into one household,” she said.
“During the COVID-19 lockdown a lot of people have been getting around to doing overdue cleaning and we’ve also had people at home 24/7 and cooking a lot more.
“We’re really encouraging residents to think about the waste their generating and the small changes they can make that will have a really big impact in the broader scheme.”
Latest figures show the Environment Protection Authority recorded a 34 per cent rise in illegal dumping incidents across NSW from March to April with 1918 reports recorded over the period.
Willoughby Council said the temporary closure of charity shops had also resulted in an increase of “high quality, expensive” materials ending up on footpaths including white goods and furniture.
Cr Giles-Gidney said measures residents could take to reduce their waste output included avoiding products wrapped in plastic and using recyclable, as opposed to disposal, goods.
The EPA warned people caught illegally dumping domestic waste face on-the-spot fines of up to $4000 while businesses can be hit with fines of up to $8000.