ILLEGAL dumping of unuseable goods in charity bins is costing charities millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours each year.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority is now offering charities grants of up to $7000 each to address the problem by installing surveillance equipment, lighting, fencing and gates.
EPA charity recyclers reference group member Pat Daley said charities struggled to keep up with the volume of unusable goods dumped on the doorsteps of their shops or around collection bins.
"Charities rely on donations to raise funds for their important work, but the cost of sorting and disposing unusable goods cuts deeply into fundraising efforts," he said.
Of the two billion items, or 300,000 tonnes of goods, received by charities each year, about 40 per cent are unuseable.
The cost of getting rid of the rubbish is about $7 million a year.
St Vincent de Paul Society Parramatta Central Council executive officer Susan Goldie said Vinnies was grateful for the donations received.
"Amost 50 per cent of funding for Vinnies works in local communities is generated by the sale of donations through our shops," she said.
"Unfortunately though, many of our volunteers are faced with sorting through wet and damaged goods after they have been left outside bins or shopfronts overnight, over weekends and during holidays."
The new Reducing Illegal Dumping on Charitable Recyclers grants program is part of the NSW Government's $58 million Waste Less, Recycle initiative.
