|
Illegal Dumping
What is it?
Illegal dumping, sometimes called fly tipping, is where someone takes their waste and discards it on someone else’s property or on public property, sometimes because they are too lazy to dispose of it properly but generally to avoid paying charges. Illegal dumping encompasses everything from someone discarding a lolly wrapper, to commercial companies dumping large quantities of waste in public places such as rest areas by the roadside.
Does charging for waste result in illegal dumping?
This is an incredibly complex issue. Only a very small proportion of people dump their rubbish around the district illegally. It really comes down to what each person determines is acceptable behaviour; and different people have different ideas of what is acceptable.
For example in “the good old days” when you didn’t have to pay at the landfill to dispose of your rubbish, illegal dumping was endemic in the Waitaki District. The archives are full of letters complaining to the Council of people illegally dumping waste. While it didn’t cost people to drop their waste off, some people just couldn’t be bothered driving to the landfill, and more people thought illegal dumping of waste was acceptable back then.
Even now most waste that is illegally dumped consists primarily of recyclable materials which could have been dropped off at Council’s Resource Recovery Park or transfer stations for free! A very small number of people just don’t care.
What can we do about it?
Council goes through all illegally dumped waste and tries to identify the owner of the waste. Sometimes this is from a letter, invoice, prescription medicine bottle, etc. When the owner is found Council either charges the owner for all costs (including investigation and clean up costs) or will prosecute. People should be aware that a small action can result in considerable costs for them. For example, throwing out some old car oil over a bank by the side of a road, can result in oil entering a waterway and can result in tens of thousands of dollars in remediation costs. There is free drop off of waste oil at Oamaru Landfill!
Sometimes there is nothing in the refuse to say who dumped it. Council is just not resourced to monitor every likely spot where someone might dump their rubbish. This is a community issue. If you don’t want rubbish around your district, and if you don’t want to pay high rates to pay for someone else’s waste, then you need to let Council know if you see someone dumping waste illegally. Let’s be completely honest here, we all pay enough in rates without having to pay for some other person’s waste!
What do I do if I see someone illegally dumping?
Report it to Council or the police if they are close by. Record the registration number of any vehicle if you can. Take a photo with your cell phone if possible. Write down a description of the vehicle and the driver. However, be careful not to put yourself at risk. Be discreet.
What do I do if I find some illegally dumped rubbish?
Contact Waitaki District Council and they will organize for someone to go pull it apart and determine who the owner is, and clean up the waste. Council has quite a good success rate at determining who dumped the waste and making them pay. It is not uncommon for someone to dump rubbish trying to save $20 in disposal fees having to pay $200-$300 by the time Council staff time and clear up costs are taken into account.
|
|