Litter facts:

Roadside litter is a serious and unnecessary problem. The Protection of the Environment Act 1997 gives local government the power to fine those caught depositing litter from vehicles.

For more information on littering offences or how to help reduce litter please contact Council on (03) 5027 5027 during office hours or you may like to visit the EPA web sight www.epa.nsw.gov.au/litter

Frequently asked litter questions

• What do these new laws cover?
• How does the law identify advertising material?
• Where are people allowed to put advertising material?
• If material is too big to go into a letterbox, newspaper receptacle or under a door, where should the deliverer put it?
• What if the letterbox is already full? Where should the material be put?
• Who can be prosecuted?
• What are the penalties for breaking the law?
• What are some examples of unlawful delivery of advertising material?
• What are some examples of fines for the unlawful delivery of advertising material?
• What about people handing out advertising material?
• What if people don’t want to receive advertising material and have a "no junk mail" sign on their letterbox?
• What should people do if they find advertising material under their car windscreen wipers, on top of their letterboxes or in other inappropriate places?
• Who has responsibility for enforcing the litter laws in terms of receiving complaints or responding to enquires from the public?
• Who do people complain to at the local council if they want to report an offence?
• How will councils ensure that people comply with the law?
• What if someone makes several unlawful deliveries on the same "delivery run" i.e. "multiple breaches"? Will they be prosecuted for every inappropriate placement?
• What are the procedures (for the recipient) when it is a company delivering material illegally?
• What if someone leaves a pile of free 'advertising' post cards on tables in shopping centres?
• How should pamphlets and other advertising material intended for residents be delivered?
• Who commits the offence of littering if advertising brochures are being handed out to passers-by near shops or railway stations but end up on the ground?

Other litter questions

• Why not continue the ‘Do the Right Thing’ campaign?
• What if you can't find a bin?
• Apple cores are biodegradable. Are they OK?
• What are the fines for cigarette litter?
• Is it OK to litter where someone is paid to clean up?
• Doesn't littering keep sweepers and cleaners in jobs?
• Can you put junk mail in a letterbox with a ‘no junk mail’ sticker?
• Do these new laws deal with posters on buildings or telegraph poles?
• Can an officer from a local council issue a penalty notice for littering from a vehicle if the littering occurs outside the area of that council?
• Can a report of littering from a citizen be relied upon by a council or other agency with the power to issue penalty notices as the basis for issuing a penalty notice for littering from a vehicle?
• What can be done about the inappropriate delivery of local newspapers (left so that they blow away etc)?
• What if a litterer refuses to tell their name and address to an authorised officer?
• Do these new laws cover syringes?