Curb road trash

By Dion Teasdale
UPPER Yarra residents and local environmental groups are calling on the State Government to help clean up roadside litter along the Warburton Highway.
They are concerned about the build-up of recyclable litter in drains along the highway and are looking to the Government to adopt a statewide can and bottle refund system.
Members of local environment group, Group for the Lilydale and District Environment (GLADE), believe the level of roadside litter along the highway is unacceptable.
GLADE president and Seville East resident, Kieran Martin said the build-up of soft drink and alcohol bottles and cans, fast-food wrappers, cigarette packets and milkshake containers was threatening the surrounding environment.
“People driving along the highway are throwing rubbish out their windows and it makes its way into drains which lead into the Woori Yallock Creek, and then into the Yarra River,” he said.
“This litter is feeding straight into and polluting the home of the helmeted honey eater (Victoria’s endangered fauna emblem), and is impacting on other species too.”
Mr Martin said group members had found lizards trapped or dead in beverage containers, and other species such as platypuses choking on plastic wrapping.
“This kind of littering, where there is a line of rubbish between townships along the Warburton Highway, is disgusting and shows a complete lack of respect for the environment,” he said.
Yarra Ranges roadside litter campaigner, Peter Cook, said the best solution would be for the State Government to implement a can and bottle refund system.
“In Victoria a refund system, similar to that which has successfully operated in South Australia since the mid-1970s, would stop millions of cans and bottles being washed down roadside drains into our waterways,” he said.
“It would also put a lot of money back into our community because, as in South Australia individuals, charities and community groups would collectively make millions of dollars every year from unredeemed deposits.”
Mr Cook, who has conducted surveys of roadside litter across the country, described littering as a “big problem” in the Upper Yarra.
He recently conducted a count of litter along a 1km stretch of the Warburton Highway near Woori Yallock and said the results were typical of results across the state.
“In less than 1km, I counted 216 bottles and cans and 108 food wrappers,” he said.
“Compare this to a count I did along 17 kms of a similar highway in South Australia, where there was only 25 beverage containers, and the need for a refund system is clear.”
A spokesman for Environment Minister, John Thwaites, said the Government was not considering implementing a litter refund system.
“There are thousands of recycling bins in public venues, the Government has a strong and regular advertising campaign, and there are heavy fines for offenders,” he said.
He said people caught littering on roads could face a $210 fine, or up to $4190 if a case is contested and lost in a court of law.