Abandoned shopping trolleys are, unfortunately, an all-too familiar sight and one that the mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown council is determined to eradicate from the streets.
“I’ve had enough and I’m exploring every possibility to seize dumped trolleys and recycle them,” Bilal El-Hayek said.
There are more than two million shopping trolleys in circulation in Australia. Each year, supermarkets lose more than 700,000 of the unwieldly beasts.
In an effort to curb the dumping, council has turned to technology and is trialling AI to map the four-wheeled menaces. Side-mounted cameras have been installed on council’s fleet of street sweepers to create a database highlighting problem neighbourhoods.
Initial results have proved successful, with the AI tech – developed by council, with help from an external vendor – detecting hundreds of abandoned trolleys a week. Bankstown, Punchbowl, Lakemba and Campsie are among the problem suburbs so far identified.
El-Hayek is also demanding answers from supermarkets. Council will be sending out letters to CEOs of the major chains asking them to explain what measures they are putting in place to stop the dumping from occurring.
While smart-tracking solutions exist, supermarkets seem hesitant to invest in the technology, El-Hayek said. “The major chains are making billions of dollars in profits each year, yet they’ve put the handbrake on investing in smart trolleys that can track or immobilise trolleys when leaving the stores’ boundaries.”
After lobbying by peak body Local Government NSW, the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act came into force in November 2022.
Under the law, supermarkets must collect abandoned trolleys whose placement poses a risk to public safety within three hours. A seven-day collection limit exists for any others unceremoniously dumped on kerbsides. Supermarkets failing to comply face fines ranging from $660 to $13,750.
But, as LGNSW president Darriea Turley explains to Government News: “The reforms were expected to significantly reduce council and community costs, by placing a greater emphasis on owners to take responsibility for items such as shopping trolleys … It is disappointing that in some cases, penalties for failure to do the right thing are seemingly not functioning as a sufficient deterrent,” she said.
To help address the expense of managing abandoned trolleys, El-Hayek is calling on the state government to hand out heftier fines. “I’ve written to the minister responsible to impose heavier fines and make it easier for councils to fine lax supermarkets,” he said.
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