Litter and Illegal Dumping
Littering
According to the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), the single most common litter item in Australia is the cigarette butt. Cigarette butts make up half of the litter in NSW.
Other common litter includes small pieces of paper, chip and confectionery wrappers, fast-food packaging, bottle caps, glass pieces, glass alcohol bottles, plastic straws and soft drink bottles (both plastic and metal).
Littering is an offence. You can be fined if you commit a littering offence. For further information
the EPA has a comprehensive website about littering.
It includes information about littering laws and regulations, as well as advice on what you can do to prevent littering.
Littering from vehicles
Under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 it is an offence to deposit litter from a vehicle.
Penalties for this offence can be up to $2,200. Our officers carry out patrols throughout the local government area, including outside of normal business hours, and issue on the spot penalty notices of up to $250 for private vehicles and $500 for vehicles owned by corporations where littering is observed.
More serious offences such as littering cigarette butts from vehicles during a total fire ban period can attract even higher penalty notice amounts. Members of the public that witness litter deposited from a vehicle can report their observations.
Help us stamp out littering - Report littering from a vehicle through the EPA's Online Reporting Portal or the Mobile App.
Illegal dumping
We can investigate reports of illegal dumping in public and private places. Our officers can attend sites of illegal dumping and conduct investigations in an attempt to identify where the waste material originated from and who was responsible for dumping the waste.
Mattress dumpers beware
We are investigating an increase in illegal mattress dumping taking place across the local government area.
Anyone with information about the illegal dumping of mattresses or other waste material is encouraged to call us on 02 4974 2000.
Newcastle households have several options for disposing of mattresses:
- Booking a kerbside collection or requesting a self-haul (tipping) through our bulk waste service. Residents are reminded that placing material on the kerb at other times is illegal and on-the-spot fines of up to $5,000 may be issued.
- Taking them toSummerhill Waste Management Centre for recycling (fees apply).
- Booking an in-home collection by a local mattress recycler (fees apply). You can search for a recycler on the PlanetArk 'Business Recycling' website.
