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

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Community leaders in South Auckland have adopted a novel “name and shame” approach to stop illegal dumping in their area, but not everyone is on board with the strategy.

Mountains of rubbish piling up around Mangere town centre have long been a problem in the suburb’s shopping precinct.

However, rather than turning a blind eye, Toni Helleur and her team at community charity I AM Māngere decided to take some more proactive steps to curb the constant eye-sores around shops in the area, including naming and shaming the perpetrators on social media.

“What we want to do is assess what’s happening in the city centre because this problem has been going on for a long time,” the I AM Māngere chief executive said.

“We had to start from scratch. So we resorted to naming and shaming. We had to get to the bottom of this.”

She said the organization has reached out to several families and is working with them to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Others said their mail was thrown into other people’s trash.

“We understand that … it’s normal for other people to litter. I mean, you can go visit your parents and drop your mail in and the trash goes everywhere, you know?”

Auckland Council receives an average of 43 reports of illegal dumping every day and removes 145 tonnes of illegally dumped material every month.

Waste Solutions general manager Justine Haves said some private waste removal contractors had also been caught dumping rubbish illegally.

“While we won’t name and shame anyone, we certainly understand the community’s frustration with this type of behaviour,” she said.

“On more than one occasion we have traced the owner of a dump to find they paid an unlicensed person to remove the rubbish. The person then pocketed the money and dumped the rubbish illegally.”

Fitz Manase, who has been assisting I AM Mangere and runs twosevenfive clothing store in the city centre, said the strategy of “naming and shaming” was clearly working.

“We ran a three-week campaign to call people’s attention and warn them… it’s been eight or nine weeks since we started.

“Yes, the dumping on the downtown side has pretty much stopped.”

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board chairperson Tauanu’u Nick Bakulich said while illegal dumping was a “horrible” problem plaguing the community, using social media to shame people was not something the local board endorsed.

“I think it’s appalling … that people choose to dispose of their rubbish in this way. You know, you think it’s OK to just throw your rubbish in a public place, it’s unacceptable.

“(But) we have to be careful with that approach… in terms of publishing people’s names on social media, you know, because there are privacy issues… We don’t know what that person’s situation is like at home at all.”

Instead, he would rather people look into how to get a bigger dumpster.

“Our local committee has been advocating for the council to remove the management fee because the $40 fee to upgrade the bin size is a barrier for our community.”

Helleur said their next focus is to educate people on how to better dispose of their waste.

“I think the next step for us is to really educate our community on how to deal with waste (and) support them.

“So tell them where you put that garbage. If they can’t afford it, we’ll find a way to help them remove that garbage.”

Harves said Auckland Council also provided ongoing funding to local groups to prevent illegal dumping through community-led solutions, which included teaching the public how to reduce and manage waste.

Harveys strongly recommends people only use approved licensed service providers when paying for rubbish removal and ask for their licence number or call Auckland Council and ask to speak to a waste planning adviser.

“Offenders who illegally dump rubbish will be ordered to remove the rubbish and may be fined up to $400.

“Serious offenders may also be prosecuted under the Litter Act 1979, which carries a maximum fine of $30,000. The offender’s name will only be made public if a prosecution is filed.”

LDR is a local news organisation jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.