Litter and illegal dumping are the issues councils within Western Sydney region find most challenging. The regional litter and illegal dumping baseline project collated all litter and illegal dumping data from Western Sydney councils to develop a reference baseline for future regional projects.

Determining baselines for illegal dumping and littering across the region is critical to measuring the success of future programs in meeting regional and state waste targets.

Illegal dumping:

In baseline year (2014/15), a total of 27,701 illegal dumping incidents were recorded across the region costing councils $11,167,907 annually. This results in every household in the region contributing an average of $21.02 towards illegal dumping management.

Litter:

In Western Sydney, six councils had a formal LGA-wide strategy/policy to specifically address littering. Seven councils used NSW EPA funding to undertake projects related to community education and deterrence for littering. The total cost of managing litter across the region was $14,356,630 in 2014/15.