Illegal dumping

Illegal dumping is the unlawful disposal of waste on land or in water. It includes:

• Domestic household items such as discarded mattresses, white goods and old furniture, commonly found out on the kerbside.
• Green waste including palm fronds, commonly found over the back fence, on vacant blocks or in bushland.
• Construction and demolition waste.
• Household or commercial waste disposed of in or around public litter bins
• Hazardous materials such as asbestos.
• Unauthorised land filling. If you are the landowner you may be accepting fill that may affect the health of your family or devalue your land. Check with us to find out what approvals are required.

There are no excuses for illegal dumping. There are a number of ways you can dispose of your unwanted household items and green waste:

• Use your Annual Free Drop Off Service provided to all households within the shire. Visit the Byron Resource Recovery Centre page for more information or to download the Bulk Waste Disposal form for tenants.  
• Problem household and electronic waste can be dropped off for free at the Byron Resource Recovery Centre  
• Many items in good condition will also be accepted at the Second Hand Store at the Byron Resource Recovery Centre for free! 
• Hire our courtesy trailer to transport bulky items or large loads of waste to the Resource Recovery Centre.
• Try selling or giving away unwanted items via an online platform such as Facebook Marketplace, Rosella St, Gumtree, eBay or local online groups such as Byron Bay Buy Swap Sell.
• Host a garage sale. 
• Repair or repurpose your used goods into something new! You can find specific businesses that repair electronics, furniture, clothing or you try your local Repair Cafe 
• Put it in your bins! See our A to Z guide of what items can go in your kerbside bins and use your organics bin to dispose of your garden waste. 
• Large amounts of garden waste can be taken to the Byron Resource Recovery Centre to become mulch.

Minimum fines of $4000 can be issued on the spot, with maximum penalties up to $250,000 for individuals and $1 million for corporations.

Rangers have stepped up surveillance of dumping hotspots, using clever new technology to catch those breaking the law.

Dumping household items and waste in public place bins and/or on the kerbside is illegal dumping and offenders will be fined or issued with a court attendance notice. 

Our Illegal Dumping and Litter Education and Enforcement Plan and Towards Zero Waste Strategy have targets to reduce illegal dumping in the Byron Shire by at least 30% by May 2022.  

Our objective is to create anti-illegal dumping behaviour for the future. We will do this through:

• evidence gathering
• education
• awareness
• prevention
• enforcement
• infrastructure
• evaluation based on the NSW Environmental Protection Authority pillars for reducing illegal dumping.

If you see illegal dumping please Report it to Council or use the RIDonline appNSW Environment Protection Authority online reporting service.

Gather as much information as you can including:

• location
• time
• date
• type of waste
• vehicle details
• description of person(s) involved.

RIDonline app

• Visit RIDonline with your smartphone, tablet or computer and upload a picture of the dumped waste.
• provide the address of the incident using the GPS on your device or select the location on the provided map
• describe the type of dumped waste
• submit your report.

Supermarkets are responsible for collecting their own trolleys, see contact details below.

Woolworths

• Report to Trolley Tracker. Trolley Tracker return trolleys back to stores and offer a monthly prize for those who lodge reports.
• Call 1800 641 497
• Email trolleytracker@trolleytracker.com.au
• Download the app (Trolley Tracker AU - Apps on Google Play)

Coles

• Visit their abandoned trolley page
• Call 1800 876 553

Aldi

Call 13 25 34

Supa IGA - Byron

 02 6680 7455

Bunnings Warehouse

02 6639 5300