Illegal dumping of waste is a significant and ongoing issue across the Northern Territory and particularly in Alice Springs.
In recent years, reports of illegal dumping in Alice Springs have been increasing.
Understanding the full nature and extent of the illegal dumping "problem" in Alice Springs is challenging. This is because the whole point of illegal dumping is to ensure it goes undetected – dumpers want to make sure their crime is out of sight and out of mind.
Solving the illegal dumping problem in the Alice Springs municipality requires a collaborative all of Government approach to understand the nature and scale of illegal dumping and to change behaviour for improved environmental outcomes.
The strategy
To tackle the illegal dumping problem, Operation: Don't be a dumper (DBAD) has been developed to deliver six key outputs:
Table 1: DBAD outputs
| Output | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Project Governance. We will establish strong governance with the right stakeholders to ensure success. | Complete PDF (9.4 MB) |
| 2 | Understand the Nature and Scale of the Problem. We will identify where illegal dumping is occurring and what wastes are being dumped. | Complete PDF (1.2 MB) |
| 3 | Identify the cause We will understand what’s causing the problem. | Ongoing* |
| 4 | Remediate existing dumping We will target remedial efforts to address areas identified in Output 2. | Ongoing |
| 5 | Prevention and deterrence We will prevent and deter future dumping | Ongoing |
| 6 | Monitoring We will measure and monitor the effectiveness of the strategy to inform continuous improvement | Ongoing |
*Contribute to "Output 3" of Operation: Take the Alice Springs illegal dumping survey now!
Read the full report to learn more on the Project Plan - Operation: DBAD PDF (9.4 MB).
Reporting illegal dumping
If you have witnessed illegal dumping and wish to report it for investigation, please contact us via:
- Our online Report Form; or
- the NT EPA pollution hotline: 1800 064 567 (24-hour, free call)
For information on how we will assess your report, please visit the "Report Pollution" webpage.