Cleaning up the Region

For too long the issue of illegal dumping and littering has been like an elephant in the room - the public knows the problem exists, but seldom does anyone do anything about it.

Understanding how important it is to keep the region clean, Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor, Steve Jones, said Council had been working hard to change this attitude by educating the public and the results have been overwhelmingly positive.

Over the past year there has been a decrease of about 100 tonnes of illegally dumped waste being collected by Council, Mayor Jones said.

This is a great result and is an example of how far we have come over the past year.

In the 2013/2014 financial year Council collected 158.53 tonnes of illegally dumped waste throughout the region and disposed of it at one of Council's landfill sites. The average cost of managing litter and illegally dumped waste in Queensland is $670 per tonne - so in 2013/14 Council had to pay around $106,000 to manage this waste.

In the 2014/2015 financial year this number decreased to 58.95 tonnes of waste - that's a reduction of 100 tonnes. A saving of around $67,000 to Council over the past 12 months.

Removing this large amount of waste ensures the region is more attractive to both the public and visitors coming to the region. It also means Council can spend money on providing other services to the community.

We know we still have a lot of work to do but we are committed to keeping the region litter free, Cr Jones said.

Over the past couple of years we have worked hard to improve waste management in the region and this included an illegal dumping and litter campaign.

To roll out this campaign, Council applied and was successful in receiving funding from the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC).

This project incorporated a number of education and awareness activities which included:

• Waste audits
• Billboards
• Community/School competitions
• Brochures
• Stickers
• Video
• Postcards
• Press advertisements
• Public place trial recycling bins

Council formed a working group with Anuha Services and the Withcott Litter Patrol to assist Council with ideas and provide feedback.

I'm really pleased with the results we have received to date, Cr Jones said.

From 2014 to 2015, roadside litter has decreased in mass by about 44 per cent.

Other changes included a decrease in waste generated from households and a significant increase in our recycling bins.

It is obvious the public now has a better understanding of what should be placed in what bin as we are seeing less contamination in recycling bins and an increase in the resource recovery rate.

The trialing of recycling bins used in public places was also effective. And Council would like to extend this trial.

It's important we continue this trend and keep our region clean and looking pristine. We need to make sure this issue remains high on the public agenda and that we change our habits permanently, Mayor Jones said.