Fines set for litter bugs - with nappies included in hazardous category
Thursday, 28 November 2019
It's time to pay the piper for your dumped poopy nappy.
Porirua City councillors have tightened litter control in the city - approving a new policy that would see people fined $100 for emptying an ashtray, and up to $400 for the sin of dumping a soiled nappy.
With the council previously using an educational approach, the changes did raise concerns from one councillor about whether the fines were too harsh.
Mike Duncan said he noted there was a $200 fine for people taking rubbish out of their car and putting it in public bins.
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'That seems pretty excessive. I mean I've done that many times.'
Staff said that fine was largely aimed at people trying to avoid buying council rubbish bags and tipping their domestic rubbish.
The fines were limited by legislation to a $400 maximum, and had been adopted in councils around the country.
There was some initial confusion at the meeting about whether dog faeces, if left behind in public, could come under the new policy and qualify as litter.
Staff clarified the issue, saying under the Litter Act, dog poop did not qualify as litter, and wasn't covered by the policy.
However they captured dog faeces under the council dog control bylaw, for which there was a $300 fine.
Warranted litter control officers would be able to issue fines to people caught littering.
Under the policy, the fine will not be handed out if the litterer picks up their rubbish.
THE PRICE OF DUMPING
Under a new littering policy, warranted council staff in Porirua can issue the following fines:
* $100 for depositing less than 1 litre. This might include a takeaway container or contents of an ashtray.
* $200 for dumping between 1l to 20l. This includes placing household bags and 'accumulated car waste' in public bins.
* $300 for dumping 20l to 120l. This might include roadside dumping of small volumes of green waste or pest plant material.
* $400 for more than 120l, or 'hazardous litter'. This includes disposable nappies, e-waste or anything that has a hazardous chemical residue.
WHO LITTERS?
According to a Keep New Zealand Beautiful study on the behaviour of littering last year, 16 per cent of New Zealanders litter.
On average, the people who littered were 8.4 metres away from a rubbish bin.
The study found people who were least spotted littering were age 65-plus and people under 18.