Green and garden waste illegally dumped into nature reserves directly affecting wildlife, fauna and flora.
Contents
Impacts
Through lack of proper disposal of green and garden waste many varying affects occur such as the introduction of weeds, plant and tree species that can smother and kill natural vegetation. Green and garden waste has a direct impact to the visual aesthetics of land and can often attract further illegal dumping. This dumping of green waste can also lead to the blocking of drainage systems, These pollutant contaminations cause direct upset to the quality of water in our waterways affecting fish and aquatic wildlife. . Dumped garden waste can add high levels of sediments, reducing the light available for the growth of plants. Plants can become smothered in their natural habitat which can drive animals out of their home. Reducing oxygen levels from decomposition of green waste dumped into drains, such as lawn clippings, making aquatic habitats unsuitable for many species. Illegal dumping can also introduce pests and weeds into our natural areas, block waterways and roads, cause flooding (by blocked drains) and facilitate higher rates of erosion by smothering natural vegetation cover. When population-level properties that indicate superior competitive ability of the invading species are examined, 13–24 (42–77%) of the species are included, with the majority of species showing traits capable of modifying natural systems at both ecosystem and community/population scales.
Causes / stakeholders
Illegal dumping is carried out by all types of people in all parts of the community, from householders to businesses and other organizations. Addressing these motivations will enable strategies to be developed that deal with the root causes, rather than the results, of illegal dumping.
Some of the main reasons for this careless disregard for waste can be put down to sheer convenience, lack of care for the environment and also a reluctance to pay for the correct collection or disposal of the waste. The monitoring of illegally dumped garden waste by the community and industries will drive effectual tactics to battle illegal depositing. People dump waste illegally to avoid disposal fees at landfill sites or because they do not want to spend the time or effort disposing of or recycling their waste properly. Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.) is an introduced weed originating from Sri Lanka and is creating major issues throughout the Australia since its introduction into the country. Alligator weed has the potential to affect aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity severely and to cause considerable social and economic costs, particularly in aquatic situations.
Mitigation
To start along the path of mitigating this issue, we first must understand the reason that the illegal dumping of green waste takes place. General lack of care for the environment is a key issue for those who illegally dump green waste along with an unwillingness to pay council collection and tip fees and for sheer convenience of not having to organise disposal or collection of waste. The new section of the POEO Act (The Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997) now imposes further penalties for offences including polluting waters with waste, polluting land, illegally dumping waste or using land as an illegal waste facility (Parrino, Maysaa, Kaoutarani & Salam, 2014). Communities are encouraged to report illegal dumping. In accordance with NSW Illegal Dumping Strategy 2014-16, hefty fines and a maximum jail sentence of 2 years can be handed down to repeat offenders.