Help us tackle litter and illegal dumping in the Shire!

Feedback closed 27 October 2023

Illegal dumping at Azalea Street Mullumbimby.jpg

Litter and illegal dumping have huge financial, social and environmental costs.

Get involved in helping us develop the Litter and Illegal Dumping Prevention Strategy 2024 to 2029.

Thanks for your feedback. The survey closed on 27 October 2023. We are reviewing your feedback and the draft Strategy will be taken to Council early in 2024. 

We’ve been working hard to reduce litter and illegal dumping through our Illegal Dumping and Litter Education and Enforcement Plan. We have successfully achieved a:

  • 36% reduction in illegal dumping incidents.
  • 40% reduction in litter volume. 

To continue to reduce the amount of littering and illegal dumping throughout the Byron Shire, we are developing an updated, longer-term strategy. 

The Litter and Illegal Dumping Prevention Strategy aims to reduce the impacts of these issues for our organisation and our community. 

The Strategy will outline how we manage these issues over the next five years. It will focus on:

  • Education, awareness and engagement 
  • Regulation and Enforcement  
  • Services, Infrastructure and Clean Up 
  • Monitoring, Evaluation and Research

Who is involved in developing the Strategy? 

  • Residents association groups.
  • Local conservation groups.
  • Local waste and litter organisations.

We are working with these groups through a series of workshops and meetings. 

Kerbside pick-up issues

The Litter and Illegal Dumping Prevention Strategy aims to find ways to improve our current services and make them more inclusive.  

We are not considering going back to a standard bulky waste kerbside collection service. 

This is due to: 

  •  An increase in illegal dumping incidents. 
  • More waste to landfill and lack of resource recovery due to waste being not well sorted or presented 
  • Pollution and environmental impacts  
  • Safety hazards for public and staff 
  • Visual amenity
  • Dumped hazardous materials 
  • Significant cost to all rate payers  
  • Promotes a ‘throw-away’ culture that is not sustainable
  • Road access issues prevents collection for rural properties.