Dozens of dumped mattresses picked up every day in central Melbourne

A record number of dumped mattresses were collected by Melbourne street cleaners across in 2020. Here’s the reason for the surge.

A pile of mattresses dumped at Village Way, Maribyrnong. Picture: Snap Send Solve

A record number of dumped mattresses – more than 23 a day on average – was collected by City of Melbourne street cleaners in 2020.

The spike is believed to be caused by out-of-work renters and students vacating flats and houses, and returning home during the pandemic.

Dumped rubbish continues to be a blight on Melbourne neighbourhoods with a spike in footpath debris increasing during the first lockdown when many householders began spring cleaning.

Mattresses dumped at Erskine Lane, North Melbourne. Picture: Snap Send Solve

A total of 8600 discarded mattresses were picked up from City of Melbourne streets, laneways and footpaths last year, compared to 5940 in 2019, with street sweepers collecting 4250 tonnes of waste in 2020.

Over the past month Councils have unfortunately seen an increase in dumped rubbish due to additional time spent at home Spring cleaning.
Please assist in keeping your community clean and protecting the environment by reporting dumped rubbish with Snap Send Solve. pic.twitter.com/nKQbsjPrJ4

— Snap Send Solve (@SnapSendSolve) May 12, 2020

Data from reporting app Snap Send Solve also revealed that a 47 per cent in reports of dumped rubbish, including mattresses, up to 36,963 across the state.

Snap Send Solve chief executive Danny Gorog said 2020 was a record year of usage for the app with reports up 30 per cent nationwide.

“Dumped rubbish was the most popular incident type reported for Victoria, and pipped parking reports that held the No. 1 spot in 2019,’’ he said.

Many mattresses were discarded in laneways near apartments. Picture: Snap Send Solve

“COVID was the primary contributor this, with people using the extra time at home to ‘spring clean’ all through the year.’’

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the council worked hard to keep the city clean during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We faced enormous challenges last year, with the impact of the devastating bushfires felt across the state followed by COVID-19,’’ Cr Capp said.

Dumped rubbish getting unBEARable?
Report it with Snap Send Solve! pic.twitter.com/S8OYNOqxvz

— Snap Send Solve (@SnapSendSolve) September 8, 2020

“We made sure we continued to deliver crucial services like street sweeping and rubbish collection.’’

Cr Capp said keeping the city clean during summer was vital for the CBD economic recovery.

“During the holiday season it’s important that our city looks its best because it’s such a crucial time for retailers,” she said.

“We’re continuing pressure cleaning of hotspot areas as well as our streets, laneways and suburbs.’’

Melbourne City Council’s rubbish contractors collected more than 24,600 tonnes of residential landfill and 9331 tonnes of recycling in 2020.

And despite lengthy pandemic lockdowns, taggers and vandals were still a menace with cleaners blitzing an average of 30 graffiti jobs a day.

A total of 58,138 sqm of graffiti was removed while 4250 tonnes of waste was collected by street sweepers.

@IanRoyall