Council has received $20,000 from the NSW Environmental Protection Authority to gather information on illegal dumping. The hope is that the data will help determine where dumping has or is occurring, what items are being dumped, whether council should either employ or dedicate more resources to deterring illegal dumping, and aid development of a more focussed investigations and enforcement strategy.

Even though we have great waste and recycling facilities across the Dubbo region, there are still selfish and inconsiderate people who choose to illegally dump rubbish," mayor Ben Shields said.

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"When rubbish is dumped illegally, it costs a lot of money to clean it up, and it also puts those people at risk who are cleaning it up if it's a dangerous substance like asbestos."

Council's manager environmental compliance Michael Jarman said an education program would prevent illegal dumping on land near the Macquarie River.

Illegal dumping has been seen recently at charity stores.

"During the pandemic, charity organisations were inundated with second hand goods, and often people would be leaving the items next to the charity bins. While people thought this was the right thing to do, it's actually considered illegal dumping," Mr Jarman said.

"Those donated items could sit next to the charity bins for days on end, subjected to the elements, and eventually the items inside the plastic bags will be destroyed and need to be thrown out anyway."

The survey can be found at council's website.

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