West Australians litter and illegally dump junk more than anyone else in Australia, a survey has found ahead of a campaign targeting roadside litterbugs.
Keep Australia Beautiful’s national litter index for 2011-12 reveals WA has assumed the title of the worst littering State by volume, discarding 10.28 litres per 1000sqm.
This is well above the national average for the year of 6.24 litres.
The previous year, WA reported a litter volume rate of 9.03 litres per 1000sqm.
Despite the volume of litter rising, the number of items dumped in WA in 2011-12 fell.
The year before, WA littered 75 items per 1000sqm, which has dropped to 62 items. The national average is 58 items. The increase in volume was due to many of the items dumped being bigger.
Keep Australia Beautiful WA chairman Mel Hay said the drop in litter items was good news but a threefold increase in illegal dumping sites in WA was a concern.
He said illegal dumping - most commonly of household furniture, appliances, clothes lines and carpet - was the biggest contributor to WA litter.
“Much more needs to be done by West Australians to reduce the volumes of rubbish dumped in our environment, which is very concerning,” he said.
Across Australia, 983 sites were surveyed for the index. Cigarette butts were still the most common litter with 28 butts per 1000sqm and plastic objects contributed most to litter. The most littered spots in WA were highways and industrial sites.
This is why WA motorists will be targeted during Keep Australia Beautiful Week, starting today. Mr Hay said many WA motorists continued to flout the law. He called on them to stop and urged road users to look out for litterbugs.
He said litter polluted the coastal environment and cigarette butts thrown out of cars were known to start devastating bushfires.
“The message we hope will sink in is that it is never OK to litter,” he said.
Mr Hay encouraged people to become litter reporters and join the 6000 people who have already signed on to the Keep Australia Beautiful dob-in scheme.
Changes to the State’s Litter Act, which passed the Lower House this month, will increase fines up to $5000 for individuals and $10,000 for corporations.
Cigarette littering will attract a $200 fine, compared with the current $75 penalty.
Environment Minister Bill Marmion has estimated more than $20 million is spent annually in WA cleaning up litter.
The Keep Australia Beautiful Council had more than 5000 reports of littering in WA last year.
