12 March 2021

Charity bins to return to Canberra in May

| Dominic Giannini
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Illegal dumping

Illegal dumping of rubbish around charity bins forced the ACT Government to remove them around Canberra last year. Photo: Cecilia Marshall.

Public charity bins will make a return to Canberra from the end of May despite being banned in public spaces in April last year because of illegal dumping.

Bins will be placed at the Mitchell and Mugga Lane Resource Management Centres for a six-month trial period. The sites will incorporate 24-hour CCTV to catch people who try to dump rubbish illegally.

Anyone caught illegally dumping their waste at a charity bin or recycling drop-off centre can face fines of up to $1500, or $7500 for businesses, City Services Minister Chris Steel said.

“Illegal dumping is unfair to Canberrans who are doing the right thing, and it’s unfair to the charities who are left to clean up the mess left by irresponsible members of the community,” he said.

“Last year, illegal dumping around charity bins in public places put an unfair burden on charities during a time when their focus was supporting the pandemic recovery.”

Chris Steel

Minister for City Services Chris Steel said anyone caught illegally dumping rubbish will face fines. Photo: Dominic Giannini.

The ACT Government will partner with Koomari, meaning 25 people with an intellectual disability will be able to go back to their jobs collecting, sorting and onselling donated clothing and textiles.

Charity bins in public spaces will not be brought back at this point, Mr Steel said.

“We are sure that this is a much better model in terms of closely monitoring those who are dropping items off and making sure they are doing the right thing,” he said.

“If successful, we will be able to use this framework as the foundation for a permanent model with potentially more charities participating across Canberra.

“We want to provide opportunities for people to reuse and recycle textile items like clothing and shoes.”

READ MORE Bulky waste pick-up for all Canberra suburbs this year

Furniture, white goods and other bulky items will be collected by the ACT Government for free from July, meaning there is no reason to dump items illegally, the Minister said.

For more information on how to correctly dispose of, or recycle items, visit Recyclopaedia.

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Terribledriver8:50 pm 14 Mar 21

Great, looking forward to it! I hope it works well so they can expand to multiple locations.

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