‘Naming and shaming’ illegal dumpers a success, despite privacy concerns

Community leaders in South Auckland have taken a novel “name and shame” approach to stopping illegal dumping in their area, but not everyone is on board with these tactics.

The overflowing piles of waste around the Māngere Town Centre have been a constant criticism of the suburb’s shopping district.

But rather than ignoring it, Toni Helleur and her team at the community-focused charity called I AM Māngere decided to employ some more proactive measures to curb the constant eyesore around the area’s shops, including name and shaming culprits on social media.

“What we wanted to do was just assess what was going on at the town centre, because it's been an issue for so long,” the I AM Māngere chief executive says.

“We had to start really hard. So that's where we kind of did the name and shame. We had to get to the bottom of it.”

I AM Māngere chief executive Toni Helleur outside the Māngere Town Centre. Photo/Auckland Council (single use only)

The group have been in touch with a couple of families and worked with them to ensure it doesn’t happen again, she said.

There have also been individuals saying their mail has been dumped amongst someone else’s rubbish.

“We understood that … it's quite natural to have other people dumping rubbish. I mean you could go just visit Mum and Dad, put your mail in there, and it ends up wherever, you know?”

Auckland Council receives an average of 43 reports of illegal dumping a day and it cleans up an average of 145 tonnes of illegally dumped items every month.

Council’s General Manager Waste Solutions Justine Haves says that some private waste removal contractors have also been caught out for dumping rubbish illegally.

“While we do not name and shame, we certainly understand the community’s frustration with this behaviour,” she says.

“On more than one occasion, we have traced the owner of dumped rubbish to find they had paid an unlicensed person to remove it. This person has then pocketed the money and dumped the rubbish illegally.”

Fitz Manase outside his twosevenfive. clothing shop in the Māngere Town Centre. Photo/ Pacific Media Network (single use only)

Fitz Manase, who’s been assisting I AM Mangere and runs the twosevenfive clothing shop in the town centre, says it’s clear the “name and shame” tactics are working.

“We had a three-week campaign of just calling people out and warning them … and it’s eight to nine weeks on from when we first started.

"And yes, the dumping has pretty much come to a halt on one side of the town centre.”

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board chair Tauanu’u Nick Bakulich says while illegal dumping is a “terrible” issue blighting the community, using social media to shame people isn’t an approach his board endorses.

“I think it is terrible … that people choose to dispose of their rubbish that way. You know, it’s just not acceptable that you think it’s ok just to rock up and drop it off in a public space.

“[But] we've got to be careful around that kind of approach … in terms of putting people's names out on social media, you know, because there are, one, privacy issues … we just don't know what that person's situation is in their homes.”

Instead he would rather people investigate getting a bigger bin.

“What we have been advocating for here in terms of the local board is the council doing away with the administration fee because there's a $40 fee to get an upgrade in the bin size, which is a barrier, you know, for our community.”

Helleur says their next focus is on educating people about better ways of disposing of their waste

“I think that's just what we've got to head into next, is to really educate our community about what you can do with your rubbish [and] support them.

"So show them where you put that kind of rubbish. If they can't afford it, we'll try and come up with ways to help them remove that rubbish.”

Haves points out that Auckland Council also provides ongoing funding to local groups to prevent illegal dumping through community-led solutions, which includes teaching the public how to reduce and manage their waste.

And Haves strongly advises people to ensure they only use approved licensed providers when paying for rubbish to be removed, by asking for their license number or calling Auckland Council and asking to speak to the Waste Planning Advisor.

“Offenders caught illegally dumping rubbish will be ordered to remove the rubbish and may be issued with a fine of up to $400.

"Serious offenders may also be prosecuted under the Litter Act 1979 with a maximum penalty of $30,000. Only in the event of a prosecution, would the offender’s name be public.”