Hard rubbish hot spots across Melbourne and what can be done to stop illegal dumpers
Complaints about illegal dumping are soaring across Melbourne and some councils are grappling with increases of more than 200 per cent. But the nation’s leading litter activist has a plan.
South East
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Victorians are being urged to “dob in a dumper” as Melbourne councils report an alarming increase in illegal dumping during the coronavirus crisis.
The nation’s leading litter activist also wants penalties for illegal dumpers to be tripled.
Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria chair and Port Phillip councillor Dick Gross said councils and landowners were desperate for help to stop growing incidents of medium and large scale dumping.
“We have to act urgently because dumping creates more dumping. Dumped rubbish is a magnet for more dumping,” he said.
Most first time offenders are fined $330.
“That figure is vastly inadequate. We want to see a four figure fine as a minimum for dumped rubbish,” Cr Gross said.
He said the extra revenue generated should be used by prosecuting councils to help cover the cost of hard rubbish collection.
Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria has launched a Dob in a Dumper campaign that calls on people to collect evidence of dumping and passing it on to authorities.
“Evidence is key. We need photos of dumping, car regos and details around when and where the rubbish was dumped to help track and catch these criminals,” Cr Gross said.
The evidence would be passed on to litter enforcement officers at local councils or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Cr Gross said dumping was costing the state up to $50 million a year and that bill was set to increase because of “uncertainty and different practices for council tips, landfills and transfer stations” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the coronavirus crisis had disrupted the ability of local governments and landowners to respond to incidents of illegal waste
“There is confusion for residents attempting to legally dispose of their waste – an essential service,” he said.
A Leader survey of Melbourne councils revealed most were grappling with an increase in dumped rubbish – one as high as 240 per cent.
Councils were also struggling to met demand from residents trying to do the right thing as bookings for hard rubbish collections surged.
Maribyrnong Council said reports regarding illegal dumping had last month jumped 240 per cent with 85 reports recorded in March compared to 25 for the same period last year.
The complaints led to the council collecting and disposing of 173 cubic metres of hard rubbish – up from 67 cubic metres from March 2019.
Greater Dandenong Council also experienced a significant jump in the number of reports about dumped rubbish in March.
The council received 414 complaints last month compared to 244 for the same period in 2019 - an increase of 69 per cent.
In Whitehorse there was a 50 per cent increase in dumped rubbish since the partial coronavirus lock down began and in Whittlesea reports of illegal dumping were up by 45 per cent.
Yarra Ranges Environment and Infrastructure Director Mark Varmalis said the council had seen a 25 per cent increase in hard rubbish being dumped across the city.
He said it was difficult for the council to organise extra residential collections.
“There are only a limited number of experienced hard waste collection contractors in Melbourne, who will already have the year booked out with contracted collections, and they would not be able to fit additional collections within their scheduling,” he said.
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Mr Varmalis said the council wasn’t in a position to fund extra collections and the cost would be charged back to residents, creating a further financial burden.
Wyndham mayor Josh Gilligan said many residents were using the partial lockdown to spring clean their homes which had led to a record number of inquiries for hard collections.
He said 2914 residents had booked a collection in April, compared to 1748 for the same time last year – representing a 67 per cent increase.