Blue Mountains City Council, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has launched a new public education campaign to raise awareness of illegal dumping in our region.
The campaign will be rolled out through July and August and will be seen on buses as well on social media, in the form of a campaign video.
When members of community illegally drop items such as couches, mattresses, fridges and construction waste into reserves and bushland, the environmental, social and financial costs to the community are profound.
Fortunately, there are teams that are working hard to combat this problem.
Jason Adams, who manages Blue Mountains City Council's Hazardous Materials team, works closely with the Regional Illegal Dumping Squad (RID) which is run by the EPA.
As Jason says: "We work every day from Lapstone to Mt Irvine to help clean up illegal dumps across the Blue Mountains Local Government Area (LGA). We see firsthand how many negative impacts there are, for our environment, for our social activities, for our health and how it impacts the financial side of things - so the hip pocket too."
"There are a lot of resources out there so people don't have to illegally dump. Council provides bulky waste pick-ups that allow people to book on the website and get their waste taken for free right from their homes."
Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said: "I urge the community to help us protect our environment by reporting suspicious behaviour. If you see any person or vehicle illegally dumping on your street, fire trail, or in our parks, reserves or bushland, please come forward and report it."
To report illegal dumping go to the NSW EPA hotline 131 555 or via the EPA's online reporting service RID online at https://ridonline.epa.nsw.gov.au.
Watch the Stop Illegal Dumping campaign video go to: https://youtu.be/GWB57YG4sUs
Get more information on Blue Mountains City Council Waste Management at bmcc.nsw.gov.au/waste.
