The Minister for Environment has announced financial support of $8.5 million in Illegal Dumping Clean-up Rebate Program for councils and public land managers.
The program is set to cover 50 per cent of clean-up costs when all avenues to trace the perpetrator and recover costs have been exhausted or are not feasible.
This allows public land managers like council and Crown land Committees of Management to clean up priority waste
Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos made the announcement today on Tuesday morning at Glasscocks Road Lyndhurst in the presence of Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams and South Eastern Metropolitan Region MP Lee Tarlamis and Environment Protection Authority Victoria CEO Joss Crawford.
“Too often councils and public land managers are left with a costly mess to clean up from the actions of wrong-doers – this rebate scheme provides support to help cover these costs and keep our suburbs and towns clean,” Mr Dimopoulos said.
City of Greater Dandenong Mayor, Sophie Tan says clean-up costs are blowing out.
“This program will deliver support for councils like ours to clean-up illegally dumped waste, as well as increasing surveillance and enforcement activities.
“Last year alone, our hard-working staff cleaned up 900 tonnes waste like this at a cost to local ratepayers of more than $1.6 million.
“This figure is rising, and it is money that could have helped provide invaluable resources and infrastructure to the Greater Dandenong community.
“Dumped rubbish is also terrible for our local environment and waterways which is why this issue is so important to us, and we whole-heartedly welcome the Victorian Government’s crackdown on illegal dumping.”
A $13 million Illegal Dumping Taskforce is also part of the announcement, led by the EPA with Conservation Regulator to undertake enforcement activities using expanded intelligence and monitoring to detect and respond to waste crimes in key locations.
It will ramp up surveillance, enforcement and clean-up efforts across Victoria.
Rubbish dumping and littering on public land is illegal with a maximum penalty of $3,951,800 for businesses and $800,000 for individuals or five years imprisonment, or both.
Everyone has a part to play in preventing waste dumping.
To report illegal dumping call the EPA on 1300 372 842.
