By Gabriella Payne
Illegal rubbish dumping has long been an issue that has plagued the south-eastern suburbs – but an unusual yet ingenious new solution could help curb the problem for good.
With Christmas and the holiday season just around the corner, Australia’s largest clothing and household item recycling company, SCR Group, has been bracing itself for a busy few months ahead.
Running over 1600 collection hubs around the country, SCR Group spends almost $1 million every year cleaning up illegal dumping and they knew there needed to be a more permanent solution to the problem.
SCR Group key executive Alexis Todorovski said that the spike in illegal dumping over the festive season happened “for a number of reasons“ but after hearing about some interesting new research from Oxford University, the company decided to try a new prevention strategy.
The research, which showed that images of large watching eyes could reduce the occurrence of crime and anti-social behaviour, gave the company
the idea for their new, specially designed signage – a life-size, big-eyed, cardboard security guard named Alfonzo.
“Alfonzo is based off international research from Oxford University called ’the watching eye effect’, which was tested to see if images of large watching eyes would reduce the occurrence of crime and anti-social behaviour,“ Ms Todorovski said.
“The findings of that study showed their effectiveness being greater than CCTV cameras.
“SCR Group expanded on this research to include an educational element with the key message “illegal dumping is a crime” [in the new signage] because not many people know that leaving items next to clothing hubs, even with good intent, is a punishable offence, often through hefty fines,“ she said.
The company trialled Alfonzo for a four-week period at their worst offending illegal dumping hotspot in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and witnessed some incredible results.
“Our number one hotspot saw dumping decrease by 75 per cent and dropped from the number one spot to number 10 in just a four-week period,“ Ms Todorovski explained.
“The results from our trial are in line with Oxford’s research and we believe this concept should be part of public policy, especially when it comes to illegal dumping that costs ratepayers tens of millions of dollars each year to clean up (an average of approximately $2-3 million per council).“
Ms Todorovski said that SCR Group planned to roll out the scheme to their south-east locations in the near future and hoped to record similar results, but signage wasn’t the only way to stop the problem once and for all.
“We’re currently rolling out Alfonzo signage in the City of Hume, City of Casey and more in the City of Whittlesea,“ Ms Todorovski said.
“Although the signs are very successful, they are only one part to a multi-pronged strategy to significantly reduce or eliminate the problem altogether.
“In conjunction with the signage and in collaboration with councils, SCR Group believes that education programs and awareness campaigns along with the sufficient provision of services such as free home pickups and recycling drop off days should be a permanent part to local government’s service and would address the cause behind illegal dumping.“
