Concerns increased cost of going to the tip is contributing to more people Illegally dumping rubbish

Expensive tip fees are being blamed for a rise in litterbugs illegally dumping rubbish in the streets. Check how much your local tip charges.

An entire dismantled house was illegally dumped in a Port Melbourne street. Picture: Supplied

Mountains of illegally dumped rubbish are piling up on Melbourne streets as councils spend millions battling an avalanche of illegal trash.

Councils and are calling on the state government to help tackle the thousands of tonnes of new waste, including spending money from its waste levy on improved recycling programs.

One brazen litterbug dumped an entire dismantled house on a street in the city of Port Phillip, with community tip-offs in the area soaring from 5984 to 9145 in just five years.

Councils say the trend escalated during Covid but also believe the problem is linked to the state’s increased waste levy making a trip to the dump too expensive.

Rubbish illegally dumped in Ross Rd, Altona North. Picture: Mark Stewart

Over the past three years, this government fee has doubled from $66 a tonne to $126 and costs have been passed on to customers at tips.

Ratepayers are also copping it by funding millions of dollars in clean-up fees.

The City of Hume, considered one of the hot spots for the issue, estimates it cleaned up 3580 tonnes last year costing $3.2 million.

Boroondara Mayor Jane Addis said the council picked up dumped rubbish 2900 times in the last financial year.

She said there needed to be more transparency about where money from the waste levy was spent.

The cost of going to the tip has gone up in recent years.

“The Victorian government has collected the levy for many years and, for most of that time, spent very little of the money on waste and recycling initiatives,” she said.

“The money was spent supporting the funding of Sustainability Victoria, the EPA and Parks Victoria while also allowing $750m to build up on the government’s balance sheet.”

Ms Addis she it was understood the government was weighing up a change to its current laws which would allow Recycling Victoria to access the cash.

Greater Dandenong Council has now become a dumping ground for tyres, which are expensive and hard to dispose of.

The council’s director of business, engineering and major projects Paul Kearsley said the region had seen a spike in dumped rubbish.

“At times we have collected more than 100 tyres from one location,” he said.

“Most dumped waste in Greater Dandenong comes from rental houses.

“We assume this is due to the increasing costs at waste disposal facilities.

Port Phillip Mayor Marcus Pearl said a dismantled house had been dumped on a Port Melbourne street in a blatant example of the problem.

He said the council had also adopted a know approach of installing several motion activated cameras in illegal dumping hot spots.

“While the cameras mainly act as a deterrent, Council has successfully captured footage leading to several fines for dumping rubbish,” Cr Pearl said.

A state government spokeswoman said illegal dumping was largely a council responsibility, with the waste levy introduced to reduce reliance on landfill.

“It funds recycling programs, including the rollout of Victoria’s four bin system, the development of the container deposit scheme, as well as Victoria’s environmental agencies, including the Environment Protection Authority and Sustainability Victoria,” she said.

“Over the past four years, the government has invested more than $800 million from the Sustainability Fund for programs that increase recycling, reduce waste and tackle climate change.

“A further $500 million is committed to these programs in coming years.

“This is part of the Government’s complete overhaul of the state’s waste and recycling sector, which has included the largest investment in the industry in our state’s history.”