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Charities around the Mid North Coast are fed up with members of the public continuing to dump unwanted household ‘waste’ at their stores.
In the wake of a mass item dump at Taree’s Salvation Army Family Store two weeks ago, store manager Danielle Volkers believes surveillance cameras and signs are not the answers to combating the problem.
"Just trying to let the community know more often or maybe what we need and don't need.'
"It's hard to get surveillance up and running and even when we do it doesn't always pan out anyway so I think trying to keep everyone informed is a good way to do it,” Danielle said.
Danielle believes that dumpers are not feeling remorseful for their actions.
"I think it is the anonymity of it all."
"You can just do it without fear and 'nobody knows that I'm doing it’."
"They just don't think about the bigger picture of it all; we're not really a rubbish collector, we're there to give those in the community a bit of a hand and somewhere they can come, get things at a fraction of the cost and get the things they want.” Danielle said.
Lifeline Forster manager Peita Dent is also angry over the sheer volume of unusable items dumped.
December brought heightened stress for the Forster store with 75 tonnes of rubbish sent to the Tuncurry Waste Management Centre.
This equated to a cost of $19,500 out of the charity’s funds for this month alone.
"I think it's because people don't want to pay the dumping cost because it is expensive. When they know it's rubbish that's when it's not fair," Peita said.
More recently the store has been forced to take waste to the Bucketts Way Waste Management Facility- a near 40 minute trip out of town. Peita believes members of the public need to be better educated on the proper method to donate.
“It’s not that we don’t want the donations but we’re here from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon,” Peita said.
Volunteers have been known to take up to three and a half hours to dispose of the items each day. Among the items, household rubbish is consistently discovered dumped in charity bins and across the front of the store.
"We appreciate everybody's donations but when it's pure rubbish and getting people’s dirty clothes and broken soccer shoes it's ridiculous,” Peita said.
Entities respond to dumping drama
With the summer holidays providing countless opportunities for residents to dump items illegally at charities, the NSW government and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is fighting back.
Since 2013, the EPA has set in motion the ‘Waste Less, Recycle More’ initiative, contributing $5.9 million to 116 projects used to help local councils combat illegal dumping.
An additional $8.5 million is used to fund five Regional Illegal Dumping Squads and programs.
The EPA’s Reducing Illegal Dumping on Charitable Recyclers Program has the backing of a $65 million dollar package from the state government.
Charities can access grants from this program to install surveillance equipment, lighting, fencing and fluorescent signage in combating dumpers.
An EPA spokesperson is urging the public to understand charity stores are not equipped with the ability to repair broken items.
“People have a personal connection to items they have bought and often do not want to see their once treasured item in landfill; even if it is broken.”
“There is a common misbelief that charities are able to repair broken or damaged goods, which is not the case.”
The EPA has claimed charities are left to foot the bill for 250 thousand tonnes of waste each year that can not be reused or recycled.
This equates to a third of total goods donated annually.
NSW alone is faced with $3 million dollars worth of waste or 40% of total donations deemed unusable.
NSW Environment Minister Mark Speakman has urged the public to think about what they are donating.
“Donating unwanted goods is a great way to help those less fortunate, but as a rule of thumb if it ain’t fit for a mate, then don’t donate.”
The minister said the summer holiday period is marred by a spike in unusable donations and an increase of anti-social behaviour such as using charity bins for dumping food waste and household rubbish.
People caught dumping items in this manner can be subject to an on-the-spot fine up to $7,500 issued by the EPA or MidCoast Council.