Fixing the Rubbish

The City’s ‘Clean Up’ contract (covering illegal dumping and bulky waste) is years out of date. Since it was outsourced in 2019, the number of jobs has been more than double and sometimes almost triple what the contractor was told to expect, with volumes at record highs.

No wonder so many residents have noticed rubbish piling up. My motion ensures the contract will finally match the reality on the ground.

If we want Sydney to be a world-class city, we need to get the basics right.

And it’s not slowing down. Next year, we’re expecting booked jobs to hit almost 113,000 cubic metres of bulky waste and dumping up 13% from this year. That kind of growth is putting serious pressure on a system that just wasn’t built for this scale.

The reality is, our Clean-Up contract hasn’t kept pace with how the city has changed. With more people living in apartments, more renters and students moving frequently, we’re seeing more and more dumped furniture and white goods ending up on the footpath.

This isn’t just untidy, it has real impacts. It strains our waste services, causes delays, drives up costs, and holds back the improvements we need to see in recycling and reuse.

That’s why my motion to Council called for:

• A push to align the contract with the actual reality on the ground so it’s realistic;

• A full review of the trends in dumping and Clean-Up services;

• Practical improvements to how these services are delivered; and

• Recommendations to help shape future contracts and budgets so we’re better prepared for the city we are now, not the city we used to be.

You can read a copy of the motion so you can read it in full here.

I’ll keep pushing for better resources and smarter systems to deal with dumping across our city. If you’ve got ideas or issues you’d like to see raised in future motions, I’d really like to hear them.