Littering programs

Litter blitz campaign -  Don’t be a tosser or you could be fined $200.
We have launched a joint campaign blitz to target littering from vehicles.

The blitz will run until the end of January and aims to improve the local environment through reducing litter. Extra resources will be focussed on monitoring littering from vehicles, so offenders are more likely to be caught and fined.

Littering from vehicles is a serious problem in our area.

Litter spoils scenic spots like beaches and parks and is an unsightly spectacle along our roads and highways. As well as damaging our natural environment. Council is committed to changing the behaviour of litter offenders to protect our environment.

To assist motorists to dispose of rubbish properly, car litter bags will be available from Tourist Information Centres, Petrol Stations and Driver Reviver locations and will be a strong reminder to motorists that they run the risk of $200 fines if any litter is tossed from their car.

Interesting points:

• Just say a smoker smokes 20 cigarettes a day, if we stop five smokers from littering there cigarette butts that’s 100 cigarette buts per day and 700 per week
• For every three cigarettes smoked one of them will end up in our waterways.

Wollongong's Tosser Squad
Those who throw litter from vehicles in Wollongong now have even more chance of being caught. There's a new anti-litter squad on the streets. We have taken the state government's highly successful 'Tosser' campaign one step further - training a squad of its own staff to be 'extra eyes and ears' in the campaign against littering. More than 20 staff have now taken part in the training, and have pens poised to report people who fail to do the right thing.

Formation of the anti-litter squad is another way we are working to protect the city's environment. Members of the squad will report the details of anyone seen littering from a vehicle, and with the assistance of Council Environment and Health officers, will generate an on-the-spot $200 fine to be posted to the vehicle's owner.

The message to those that persist in littering is there are now many more pairs of eyes out there watching you. There's more chance than ever that you'll be caught, and hit with a fine!

Bin your butts.
We have launched a new campaign to tackle the growing problem of cigarette butt litter around Wollongong. Australia-wide, around 250 million cigarette butts end up as litter on our beaches each year, most of them washed off our streets after rain. However, Wollongong residents now have an easy alternative to discarding their butts on the ground.

Thanks to the state government's recent and highly successful 'Tosser' campaign, most smokers are now starting to realise that cigarette butts are considered litter. In fact, cigarette litter is such a problem that cigarette butts account for nearly half of all litter items washed down our street drains and into our waterways. Most people believe cigarette butts are biodegradable, but studies have shown they can actually take up to 15 years to break down - and when they do, they leach toxins and can be ingested by marine life.

Until now, the challenge has been to offer smokers a convenient way of getting rid of their cigarette butts - especially when they're on the move or not near an ashtray. We have now produced mini ashtrays designed as a mobile rubbish bin for butts, giving smokers the tool they need to 'do the right thing'. Made from reused film canisters and stubby tops, the environmentally friendly containers are compact and also solve the problem of the 'ashtray' smell, having a snap-shut lid to trap the odour. Working with businesses in the city, we're distributing up to 5,000 containers in a bid to encourage smokers to 'bin their butts'.

We are inviting businesses to take part in the program by distributing the containers.

Litter laws which came into effect on 1 July 2001 include a range of on-the-spot fines, including $60 for littering small items such as bottle tops and stubbed-out cigarette butts, and $200 for general littering, lit cigarette butts and for any item littered.