ACT government proposes severe new littering laws

A severe raft of new littering laws could see smokers cop $500 fines for chucking their cigarette butts on the ground.

Smokers who like to chuck their butts on the ground will want to strike Canberra off their ‘to visit’ list if a heavy raft of proposed new anti-littering laws come into play.

After having to deal with 800 reports of illegal dumping in the last financial year — costing ratepayers $2 million to deal with — the ACT government has proposed massive penalties to clean the territory up.

One of these measures — introduced in parliament by City Services Minister Chris Steel yesterday — is a huge hike the fine for littering smokers, according to The Canberra Times.

Fines for tossing cigarette butts could jump from $60 to $500.

If you were to callously throw your butt on the ground in a public place now, it would set you back $60 — roughly the price of two packs of smokes.

However, if the new laws are approved, this would rise to an eye-watering $500, regardless of whether the ciggie was still alight or not.

In Victoria, EPA litter fines range from $322 for a small piece of rubbish or unlit cigarette up to $645 for a lit cigarette.

Last financial year, EPA handed out over $5 million in fines to more than 11,000 Victorians for discarding litter, mostly cigarette butts, from their vehicles.

Last mont, one man even copped $1634 in fines and court costs for flicking his butt out of his car window.

The infringement notice required the accused to pay a $634 penalty, as he was the registered owner of the vehicle at the time of the offence.

The member of the public who reported the incident recounted what they saw in court, satisfying the Judicial Registrar that the accused had indeed littered by flicking his butt.

As a result, the accused man left court having to pay both the $634 fine, and EPA’s court costs totalling $1000.

In NSW, you would be fined a minimum of $250 for throwing a ciggie butt out of your car window. However, that can rise to $900 for aggravated littering such as lit cigarette butts during extreme conditions.

WHY ARE BUTTS SO BAD?

The National Litter Index shows that cigarette butts are consistently the most-littered item in the country.

According to NSW’s Environmental protection agency, cigarette butts are unsightly, toxic and harmful to the environment.

“They are easily carried in stormwater runoff through drainage systems and eventually to local streams, rivers, and waterways,”the website states.

“Cigarette filters contain cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that does not readily biodegrade and can persist in the environment.”

Other measures included in the new ACT bill include a $1500 fine for driving with an unsecured load — a 150 per cent increase from the previous amount — and a fine increase of $60 to $150 for littering small items, like a chip packet for example.

Countries such as Indonesia are becoming sick of taking our rubbish. Picture: Graham Crouch/The Australian

The move comes as a major debate rages over what Australia should do with its waste.

That’s because South-East Asian nations such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are beginning to push back against being the world’s dumping ground.

The region has been swamped with plastic since the beginning of last year, when the Chinese government banned the import of waste from overseas. India followed suit in March.

Last week, Malaysia revealed it will send as much as 3000 tonnes of plastic waste back to the countries it came from, including Australia.

Originally published as ACT government proposes severe new littering laws