Cigarette Litter Management City of Melbourne

Shelley IkinEnvironmental Engineer

The City of Melbourne

• Area of 36.5 sq km

• CBD, Southbank and surrounding suburbs

• Large sporting, entertainment and tourist venues

• Universities

• Residential population of 58,031 people

• Daytime working and visiting population of 567,000.

Integrated program for cigarette litter

• Based on an integrated approach as promoted by VLAA– Research

– Legislation and enforcement

– Education and communications

– Incentives

– Infrastructure

Research

Cigarette littering: Research undertaken

• Study of disposal behaviour, using the observational approach– 56% of smokers dispose correctly in the CBD

• Litter counts– Cigarette butts make up 36% of all littered items

Proportions of Littered Items on the Ground

Cigarette littering: Research undertaken

• Walking surveys and staff and community input to identify litter hot spots

• Identified target market: CBD workers/visitors & students

Lessons Learnt from research

• Important to understand the problem (scale, litter hot spots, cigarette disposal behaviour) and target market before delivering a program

• Observational studies more useful than litter counts

Legislation & Enforcement

Environment Protection Act 1970

• Authorises EPA, local government & police to issue on-the-spot fines of:– $100 for dropping a butt;– $200 for dropping a lit cigarette; or– Up to $6000 if taken to court.

• Since June 2003, 60 fines and hundreds of warnings issued by Council.

Environment Local Law 1999

• Non residential properties are required to:– Contain cigarette litter; and – Maintain the cleanliness of their area.

• Penalties of up to $500 for failing to comply

Kerbside Café Code

• Windproof ashtrays must be utilised in outdoor dining areas

• Uphold the cleanliness of the kerbside café site

• Kerbside café debris, litter or waste must not be swept into stormwater drains

• Failure to supply windproof ashtrays is a breach of kerbside cafe permit

Lessons Learnt: Legislation & Enforcement

• Avoid issuing infringement notices for littering in locations where bin facilities are inadequate

• Best to apply enforcement after an education campaign

• Enforcement program needs to be sustained

Education & Communications

Education campaigns for smokers

• Focused on CBD workers, visitors & students

• “Clean Up Your Butts” campaign, 2003

• “Can you afford to litter?” - Mock fines, 2003

• “No Butts About It This is Litter” campaign, 2004

Education campaigns for businesses

• Education stepped up with amendment to Environment Local Law in 2003

• Letters sent to every non-residential property

• Advice and assistance on how to comply

• Ashtrays supplier list

Education campaigns for kerbside cafés

• One windproof ashtray given to each café, together with a list of suppliers

• Letters to kerbside cafés informing of new requirement

• Council Officers delivered uncollected ashtrays

• Media and promotion of the windproof design

Using the media

• Issuing fines elicits media attention

• Media releases for all education campaigns –statistics to grab people’s attention

• Radio interviews

Lessons Learnt: Education & Communications

• Need for continual reinforcement of message to achieve a long term behavioural change

• Difficult to integrate the program across all divisions in a large organisation

• Follow education programs with an enforcement program

• Need to evaluate the success of education campaigns and report results both internally & externally

Incentives

Incentives

• Incentives offer an opportunity to engage people

• Free / discounted personal ashtrays• One free windproof ashtray as a

demonstration• Lollies: for those observed doing the

right thing

Lessons Learnt: Incentives

• Education campaigns have worked best when an incentive is offered

• Providing free personal ashtrays has delayed the establishment of the retail market in Melbourne

Infrastructure

Council’s infrastructure

• 100 ashtrays mounted on parking signs

• 100 ashtrays at tram stops

• Street litter bins with cigarette ashtray insert

Private Infrastructure

• Observed increase in private ashtrays

• Limitations: – Smokers congregate at entrances– Ashtrays cannot encroach beyond the

property boundary and need to be away from entrances

– cost ($100 - $350 per wall-mounted ashtray)– theft

Lessons Learnt: Infrastructure

• Provide line of sight to litter bins

• Test prototypes of infrastructure

• Ashtrays must be provided in areas where smokers congregate

• Site specific solutions are often best

• Communicate the locations of ashtrays to staff

• Keep areas clean and provide adequate servicing of ashtrays to help improve disposal behaviour

Future Direction

• Continuing education programs: varying the way messages are conveyed

• Strive to better integrate all elements of the program across the organisation

• Evaluate the success of the overall program