Calls for tougher penalties after illegal dumping in Melbourne's west
Dumped rubbish near Bacchus Marsh. (ABC News: Billy Draper)
In short:
A Melbourne contractor says he has been inundated with calls to remove dumped rubbish in Melbourne's west.
The Environment Protection Authority says rubbish dumping has doubled over the past five years in Victoria.
What's next?
Residents say existing fines are not a deterrent and tougher penalties are needed.
Residents living along the housing growth corridor between Bacchus Marsh and Melbourne's western fringe say illegal rubbish dumping has become a problem of "epidemic proportions".
Charlie Jarratt runs an earthmoving business in Sunbury and is being inundated with requests to remove commercial and residential rubbish that has been ditched illegally.
Charlie Jarratt says rubbish dumping is worse than ever. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
"I get called out to unbuilt blocks that have tens of thousands of dollars' worth of rubbish that needs to be removed," Mr Jarratt said.
"It seems that it's never been a problem before, and then suddenly it's this huge issue.
"There's a lot of contractors that will tell someone they'll remove their rubbish at a reputable site and then just dump it and pocket the money."
Commercial and residential rubbish is being dumped next to residential developments. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
Concern suburb turning into tip
The Victorian government plans to build more than two million new homes by 2051 to ease the state's housing crisis, with a near doubling of new homes in Melbourne's west over the next few decades.
Mr Jarratt was concerned the extra development and construction would turn his suburb into a tip.
"The builders, contractors, and local residents are just leaving crap everywhere … it's shameful,"he said.
Houshold rubbish dumped next to a residential development in Diggers Rest. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
"It makes us look really lazy. It makes us look really dirty, that we have just a really poor attitude."
Illegal dumping 'getting worse'
Parks Victoria ranger Mike Frislie has been working in the Brisbane Ranges and Lerderderg State Park, west of Melbourne, for the past 15 years.
He said the problem was getting substantially worse.
"Last week, we picked up three trailer loads of rubbish on one 3-kilometre stretch near Bacchus Marsh," Mr Frislie said.
"A while ago, 150 used tyres were pushed down the hill in Werribee. We had to carry them all back up a steep slope.
"We've also had huge loads of asbestos dumped out in the bush."
Dumped rubbish in Werribee. (Supplied: Bernard K)
Mr Frislie worked in the Glacier National Park in the United States for 20 years before making his way to Victoria. He said the rubbish situation was much worse here.
"I picked up more rubbish last week here than I did in nine years in the US," he said.
"We spend at least $1,000 a month taking rubbish to the tip at the taxpayer's expense.
"The money we spend on waste takes away from our environmental work and looking after other assets that are getting old."
Mr Frislie would like to see landfill and tip prices slashed for people wanting to dispose of rubbish responsibly.
"I'm just angry, disappointed," he said.
"We take a lot of pride in trying to present the parks looking natural."
Lee Miezis says rubbish dumping has doubled over the past five years in Victoria. (ABC News: Laura Mayers)
Is enough being done?
The Snap Send Solve app allows Australians to send a photo to local councils to report illegal rubbish dumping.
In Victoria, the app has received more than 470,000 dumped rubbish reports in the past 10 years.
By comparison, there were 170,000 reports in New South Wales over the same period.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) chief executive Lee Miezis said rubbish dumping had doubled in Victoria over the past five years to an average of 11 reports a day.
"We could be dealing with a dumped refrigerator, a dumped couch, could be concrete rubble, timber rubble,"Mr Miezis said.
In 2024, the EPA prosecuted 55 illegal rubbish dumping matters in court, with 25 investigations underway.
In a statement, a Victorian government spokesperson said rubbish dumping and littering on public land carried a maximum penalty for businesses of $3,951,800 and $800,000 for individuals, or five years imprisonment, or both.
"We're strengthening laws for the EPA to crack down on illegal dumping, including tougher penalties for repeat offenders,"the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the government was trying to tackle dumping in other ways, such as encouraging recycling through the statewide "four bins" system, education campaigns, and the container deposit scheme.
Jack Medcraft says the penalties for rubbish dumping aren't harsh enough. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
But Sunbury resident and former councillor Jack Medcraft said rubbish dumping was a problem of "epidemic proportions" in Melbourne's north-west suburbs because the penalties were too weak.
"You get them into court, what happens? A $1,000 fine — that's nothing,"he said.
"These contractors could make $500-$600 [for one load of rubbish] as an illegal operator.
"It's easier for these people to get a trailer and dump this crap out in the street than take it to the proper place.
"They don't care about the environment or what's around them. It's a sad state of affairs."
Janis Lynn Birkeland is taking matters into her own hands. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
Taking matters into her own hands
Janis Lynn Birkeland has lived on a rural property in Melbourne's outer west for the past decade.
She got so fed up with rubbish being dumped on the block next door that she decided to purchase the property to clean it up.
"It was a big investment, but I'm hoping to restore it and create more biodiversity," Ms Birkeland said.
Ms Birkeland says she keeps finding rubbish on her land. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
She said her work to mulch the block had been stymied by layers of plastic waste in the ground.
"Today, I walked around the garden and I collected a whole bucket full of garbage that wasn't visible a couple of weeks ago," she said.
"The plastic still rises to the surface like some kind of alien species."