Is it illegal to leave rubbish on the footpath in Sydney?
One pile on the kerb, read twice: on a booked clean-up night it is a collection, and with no booking it is dumping. The law that decides does not change at a council line.
- Every council
Every tile is hatched, because the dumping law is the same in all of them.
General information only. The NSW EPA’s illegal dumping laws and penalties page sets out the offences and the fine tiers, and the clean-up window a pile must sit inside is on your council’s own page.
The rule in every council
The NSW EPA’s illegal dumping laws and penalties page puts the state law in one sentence: under section 144AE of the state’s Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, putting more than 50 litres or 50 kilograms of waste or litter onto a public place, or onto an open private place, is an offence, and the on-the-spot fines and maximum penalties are higher where the place is a sensitive one. The EPA’s about illegal dumping page describes it as dumping more than a small amount of waste or litter, in water or on land, without the approval it needs, such as an environment protection licence or planning approval, and its examples include unwanted household items left on the footpath when no council collection is booked. It notes that where the waste causes land or water pollution, other offences apply. Littering has its own offences on the EPA’s litter laws page: they are littering, which includes littering from a vehicle, by dropping litter on land or water in a public or an open private place, and dangerous littering, which means littering dangerous material in either place.
Responsibility runs wider than the person who drops the load. Section 143 of the POEO Act requires a load of waste to end up somewhere that may lawfully take it, and the EPA’s transporting waste page says the waste’s owner, the vehicle’s owner and the transporter can each be found guilty of an offence when it does not. Hornsby Council’s page puts it plainly: a prosecution can reach both the person who dumped it and whoever owned the waste beforehand, and anyone hiring a contractor has to make sure the load is disposed of legally to avoid penalties.
One pile, two nights
Take one pile of household things too big for the bins: a lounge, a mattress, a washing machine past repairing, and a few bags of odds and ends beside them. On the kerb that pile is well past the 50 litre and 50 kilogram threshold in section 144AE, and which night it goes out decides what it is.
With a booked clean-up
On the night before a booked collection the pile is the council’s service working as designed: Blacktown’s page says items go out no earlier than the night before collection, Sutherland’s says the night before, and Ryde allows the day before and no earlier. The window is different in every council, and the register of clean-ups carries each one’s own wording.
With no booking
Move the same pile out a week early, or leave it on the kerb with no booking at all, and the councils say what it becomes. Campbelltown: a pile left on the kerb with no booking is treated as illegal dumping, and penalties apply. Georges River: a pile put out before the night before a booked collection, or with no booking, is illegal dumping. The Hills: materials put out with no booking are illegal dumping and may incur a penalty. City of Sydney: putting items out without a booking, or too soon before collection day, is illegal dumping. At that point the state tiers apply: the EPA’s page sets the on-the-spot fine for a small-scale illegal dumping offence at $1,000 for an individual on other public land or open private places and $2,500 in or on a sensitive place, before the higher maximum penalties or the larger-scale figures enter the picture.
Fines
The EPA’s laws and penalties page sets the tiers, and they stack from the ticket upward. For small-scale illegal dumping an individual faces a $1,000 on-the-spot fine where the waste goes on other public land or an open private place, and $2,500 in a sensitive place; a corporation faces $5,000 or $10,000 in the same two cases. If the matter goes to court, the maximum penalty for an individual is $25,000, or $50,000 in a sensitive place, and for a corporation it is $50,000, or $100,000. For larger-scale waste dumping offences the on-the-spot fine is $15,000 for an individual and $30,000 for a corporation, with higher fines for second offences. The maximum penalties on that path reach $500,000 for an individual and $2,000,000 for a corporation, with a further daily penalty while a continuing offence goes on. For the wilful disposal of waste that causes or is likely to cause harm to the environment, the maximum for an individual is $2,000,000 and up to 7 years in prison, and for a corporation $10,000,000.
Asbestos moves the ceiling again. For larger-scale waste dumping offences, the EPA’s page says the top penalty doubles for individuals and corporations when the waste contains asbestos. Asbestos is also the one load no kerbside bin and no clean-up will take: it can only go to a landfill licensed to accept it. The next section says who may remove it from a home, and when a licence is needed. The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency’s page for householders sets out the precautions, and the asbestos guide names the Sydney landfills licensed to take it.
Handling asbestos safely
Asbestos fibres are dangerous when the material is damaged or worked on, and the EPA says most asbestos-containing material in a home is safe while it is in good repair and nothing is likely to damage or disturb it. Unlicensed removal is legal in your own home, but only for non-friable material under 10 square metres: the state government says any friable material, and anything larger, needs a licensed removalist. A home owner who does that small job must follow the same strict precautions as a licensed removalist, from the start of the job to the end. The advice is still not to rely on that permission: the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself, and the NSW Government’s asbestos site strongly recommends a licensed asbestos assessor and removalist, who can identify, remove and dispose of it safely. The NSW EPA sets the same limits for a contractor. If a material might contain asbestos, treat it like it is, and never clean it with high-pressure water or any abrasive process such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding: the national agency says work that is likely to disturb or damage the asbestos should go to professional help instead. Queensland’s asbestos site says not to saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials. The asbestos guide carries the whole route, from wrapping the load to the disposal receipt.
Charity bins
The ground beside a charity bin is not a second collection point. The EPA’s responsible donating page says anything broken, or that is plain rubbish, should go out with your own garbage rather than into a charity bin, and that when an op shop is closed or a donation bin is full the choice is to wait or ring ahead, never to leave things outside. It gives the cost too: illegally dumped and poor-condition donations are a significant problem for NSW charities, at a cost to them of millions of dollars each year in clean-up and disposal. Its test for what to donate is short: if you would not give a second-hand item to a mate, do not donate it. For the things that are not good enough to donate, its advice is to contact the local council to arrange a pickup or find the nearest waste station.
Reporting dumping
Report illegally dumped waste through RIDonline, the EPA’s online reporting service, which councils and government agencies across NSW use as the database for recording and managing illegal dumping incidents. A report through RIDonline sends the relevant local council an email alert so it can respond, and following up on one means calling that council. Where dumped waste threatens human health or the environment right away, the EPA’s page says to call its Environment Line on 131 555. The EPA’s contacts page splits the rest by place: illegal dumping on private property belongs to the local council, and dumping inside national or state parks, historic sites and nature reserves is the EPA’s job, on the same 131 555. Dumped asbestos gets the same treatment, with a warning not to touch it and to report it to the council or the Environment Line.
Where dumped waste is giving off toxic fumes, or is a large chemical spill, the EPA’s report illegal dumping page says to call 000 and report it immediately.
Paying someone else to take the load does not move any of this: who answers for the waste when you pay a removalist follows the duty from the quote to the tip.