Unsecured loads cost communities millions per year
Drivers who don’t properly secure their load, when visiting their local waste transfer station, do more than just cause roadside litter. Unsecured loads cost councils millions of dollars every year and they can also endanger the safety of other drivers.
Last year NevRwaste received funding through Sustainability Victoria to develop an awareness campaign to increase the public’s understanding about transporting unsecured loads in North East Victoria.
Roadside litter is costly, unsightly and negatively impacts on the environment. It’s a bigger local problem than most people may realize. It costs local governments over $6 million to clean up roadside litter and illegally dumped rubbish each year. A study produced by Sustainability Victoria[1] reported that around 16,000 tonnes of roadside litter is removed by Councils, costing ratepayers almost $1.9 million per year.
Council has been calling on the community to prevent littering behaviours by making it socially unacceptable and report any littering behaviour to the EPA.
Essentially the TV advertisement was designed to highlight this, as well as making people aware that reporting littering, including unsecured loads is easy to do, by either calling: 1300 EPA VIC or visiting www.reportlitter.com.au or downloading the free Report Litter iPhone App from the App Store or the EPA website.
The ‘Secure Your Load or Secure A Fine’ campaign was run across the North East Region for 6 months early 2012.
Pre and post audits were taken to evaluate the project which demonstrated that after the campaign was run:
- A decrease of 61% in roadside litter recorded (along roadside verges leading to local landfills and Resource Recovery Centers)
- An overall increase of 13% in the amount of secured loads arriving at Resource Recovery Centers
- A decrease of 10% in unsecured loads arriving at Resource Recovery Centers