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Hey Tosser! Litter Prevention Campaign

By 2016, NSW aims to have the lowest litter count per capita in Australia. This is a reduction of approximately 40 per cent in the number of littered items based on 2011–12 data.

The NSW EPA’s research about littering behaviour, shows that people know that littering is wrong. They know it is socially unacceptable. That is why, if people litter, they tend to do it when no one is looking.

The Hey Tosser! campaign tells litterers they are being watched and that no one likes what they do.

What is littering?

throwing food wrappers or cigarette butts from a vehicle

leaving a food container under a park bench

stubbing a cigarette onto a footpath

leaving a plastic water bottle on the beach

allowing soil, sand or garden waste to blow from a moving vehicle

All of the above are examples of littering behaviour.

- Why is littering a problem?
Littering has serious environmental impacts and is a considerable resource and financial burden for government, business and the community:
- Litter makes an area look dirty and uncared for, unpleasant to be in and less likely to be used and enjoyed by the community.
- People are much less likely to litter in clean areas and littered places keep attracting more litter.
- Litter dropped in streets, along roadsides and in bushland pollutes land, waterways and our ocean environments.
- Litter may be a fire hazard (lit cigarettes being thrown from vehicles).
- Litter can be harmful to people particularly items such as broken glass, needles and syringes.
- Litter is particularly harmful to wildlife
- It costs millions of dollars to manage and clean up litter, money that could be put to much better use in our communities.
- What can you do about it?
It’s easy to prevent litter every day:
- put your rubbish in a bin
- take your rubbish with you if no bin is available
- keep a bag in the car to collect rubbish
- put your cigarette butt in a butt bin, or ordinary litter bin when extinguished
- keep a container in the car to collect cigarette butts.
You can also:
- pick up the litter of others, and ask others to pick up their litter
- talk to your family and friends about the impacts of littering
- contact your local council and local community groups about litter prevention projects
- report litter from vehicles
- get involved in a local litter prevention project.
Running a local litter prevention project >

A single fine for littering:

What are the fines for littering?

$80

for littering small items, such as bottle tops and cigarette butts

$250

for general littering

$250

for an individual littering from a vehicle

$450

for littering in dangerous circumstances, such as depositing a syringe or a lit cigarette, or intentionally breaking glass

Larger fines apply for corporations and the maximum penalties for all offences are greater again if proceedings are taken to court.

Did you know you can now report littering from a motor vehicle?

If you see someone littering from a vehicle, you can report it:

It’s easy to report a tosser.

Call 131 555 or report online at www.epa.nsw.gov.au

Litter Facts

Cigarette butts continue to be the most littered item in NSW, making up 43% of all littered items1.

Plastic items and paper/paperboard items contribute most to the volume of litter across all sites 1.

95 per cent of the litter on beaches comes from suburban streets, down the street drains and through the stormwater system1.

Cigarette butts were the main littered item at 4 of the 6 Northern Rivers regional hot spots

(NE Waste local litter checks 2014)

Fact 1

Fact 2

Fact 3

Fact 4

1 2011/12 National litter Index for NSW

Litter Reduction and Prevention Program 2015

North East Waste on behalf of its member Councils, successfully applied for NSW Government grant funding under the Waste Less Recycle More initiative, to implement a litter prevention program. Litter checks carried out at each of the sites, identified cigarette butts and or plastic and paper/cardboard packaging as the most littered items at all locations and it is these items that will be targeted.

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During the 3 month campaign (April to June 2015), the aim is to reduce litter by 20% at 6 identified ‘litter hot spots’ across the North Coast.

This will be achieved through a multi targeted approach:
- New infrastructure such as waste bins, recycling bins, cigarette butt bins and accompanying ‘Hey Tosser’ campaign signage installed around ‘hot spot’ locations; making it easier for people to do the right thing and to raise awareness about the impacts of littering
- Litter enforcement training for Council staff to reinforce fines as a consequence of littering
- A local print media campaign to coincide with the rollout of the NSW EPA's statewide Hey Tosser promotion
- A ‘Hey Tosser’ education/clean up event around each ‘hot spot’ location to encourage and engage the target audience in improved litter behaviour.
The identified “hot spots” and details of the ‘Hey Tosser’ education / clean up events:

This is a NSW EPA Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the Waste Levy. Visit www.epa.nsw.gov.au