Council is inviting the Hawkesbury community to view and comment on Council's Draft Hawkesbury Litter Prevention Plan until Monday, 14 April 2025.
The Draft Hawkesbury Litter Prevention Plan supports council's vision for a cleaner Hawkesbury by consolidating research, litter counts and community sentiment to create measurable targets, and strategic initiatives to reduce litter and the impact of litter on the environment.
According to the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), litter management costs the NSW economy more than $162.6m per year. Local government agencies bear the largest cost of litter management, paying $135.3m (83% of the litter management costs for the state).
A cost of litter study completed through the Western Sydney Region Organisation of Councils (WSROC) found that in the Hawkesbury LGA, of the 536 tonnes of waste collected from open spaces in 2021-22, less than half (45.7%) had been correctly disposed of in public place bins and over half (54.3%), or 291 tonnes, was littered. The average amount of waste collected across the Western Sydney region for the five participating councils was 11,806 tonnes, with 74% being correctly disposed of and 26% being littered waste.
Based on the engagement and data collection findings, the Draft Hawkesbury Litter Prevention Plan identifies six priority litter items and five priority locations for focused effort and investment.
The six priority litter items are: cigarette butts, takeaway food packaging, snack and confectionary wrappers, drink containers, party items such as balloons and confetti, and litter fragments.
The five priority areas are: recreational parks, car parks, the Hawkesbury River, retail areas and roadsides.
The plan recommends Council increase investment in litter prevention over the next five years, including increasing the number of bins, activating the community, tourists and businesses to prevent littering, and encouraging the reporting of littering to the 'Report to EPA' app.
Have your say on the Draft Hawkesbury Litter Prevention Plan at https://www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/exhibition-of-draft-hawkesbury-litter-prevention-plan
This project is a NSW Environment Protection Authority Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy initiative, funded from the waste levy.
