Campaign transforms illegal dumping behaviour

Efforts to stamp out illegal dumping in the City of Canterbury Bankstown have led to an unprecedented fall in the number of incidents across the community.

Council’s Eyes On It campaign, run alongside the Sydney Regional Illegal Dumping Squad and community groups, has completed its third and final phase for a 12 month period.

The campaign used highly visible tape, educational signs and stickers to label incidents of illegal dumping, and encouraged the community to be more proactive in reporting incidents to Council.

As a result, the number of public reports tripled and dumping incidents dropped by nearly 40 per cent. Nearly 6,700 incidents were identified and collected over the course of the campaign and in 15 suburbs, the rate of improvement was more than 50 per cent.

Mayor Khal Asfour said the community’s response to the NSW Government funded campaign is a reflection of how successful Council’s efforts have been in changing people’s behaviour.

"Even putting items out for reuse or repurposing without a Booked Clean Up contributes to normalising illegal dumping. We want to make it clear Council does not tolerate people who illegally dump rubbish. That’s why we have come down on it strongly, and are ready to issue fines of up to $4,000," Mayor Asfour said.

"It is a priority issue where 98 per cent of our residents have expressed a desire to live in a clean and green community, and many call for dumpers to be prosecuted. We’ve heard them and have taken swift action to address concerns over this problem to dramatically change behaviour."

More Canterbury-Bankstown residents are choosing to do the right thing. A 45 per cent average of illegal dumps, which Council staff labelled during the campaign, was removed by people after they realised they had done the wrong thing.

"Our zero tolerance approach is cutting through and restoring the sense of community pride and safety in our streets and suburbs among residents and visitors. This isn’t about threatening people with fines – it’s about re-educating them, changing attitudes and creating a better community for all of us to live in," Mayor Asfour said.

The Council would like to remind households they can arrange two free Council Clean Ups annually. Book online cb.city/cleanup or find out more on 9707 9000.