Charity bins are not a tip

The mate test

The EPA’s first tip is short: if you wouldn’t hand a second-hand item to a mate, don’t donate it. Charitable Recycling Australia, quoted on the same page, says the same of friends and family: “if it’s not good enough to donate to friends and family”, it is most likely not good enough for charity. Its message also asks people to declutter and donate all year round, because charities need donations all year.

So a clear-out has two piles. Clean, whole, usable things can be a gift. Rubbish and damaged things are not, and the EPA says they belong in the garbage bin.

Why it matters to charities

The EPA describes illegally dumped, damaged and poor-condition donations as a significant problem for NSW charities. They cost charities millions of dollars a year to clean up and dispose of, and take them away from their core work. The EPA also cites research that half of the people who leave things outside charity shops or beside donation bins don’t realise those things often end up in the bin.

When the bin is full or the shop is shut

Don’t leave things outside. The EPA’s advice is to wait until the bin has been emptied, or to call the shop first to find out when it is open. Charitable Recycling Australia’s message ends the same way: give in store or inside the donation bin, never outside it, so the donation counts.

Fines

In NSW, illegal dumping is an offence, with on-the-spot fines and maximum penalties. The NSW EPA’s page on illegal dumping laws and penalties, listed below, sets out the fines under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, which the EPA calls the primary law regulating illegal dumping in NSW.

Where the rest goes

For things that are not right for donating, the EPA points you to your local council, to arrange a council pickup or find your nearest waste station.

Where the tenancy rules say ‘donate’

Donating also appears in the rules for goods a renter leaves behind. In Queensland rooming accommodation, once goods have been kept for 28 days, they may be donated to charity if their total value is under $900. In Tasmania, the owner of a rental property may donate or throw out goods of no value that a tenant left behind, and signs a statutory declaration describing what was done. Room 3 has Queensland’s rules and room 4 has Tasmania’s.