The Salvation Army in Altona is fearful it will be swamped with rubbish over Easter and is pleading with people to stop using its local church and op shop as a “free tip”.
Captain Matthew Kean said it was costing the Salvos a tonne of money to dispose of poor-quality donations and, in some cases, plain rubbish.
“We don’t want to take the road of prosecuting people and looking through digital camera video,” he said.
“I would probably be more inclined to think that people are taking advantage of not having to pay for tip fees – because they’re ridiculous.
“Our problem just continues to persist.
“Sometimes we’ll come in and there will be couches and old mattresses and old cupboards that are just rubbish. The other day we got a couch that was … it was just absolute filth.”
He said each week the Salvos paid for a giant bin to be emptied, and also did tip runs to dispose of the rubbish.
Mr Kean said holidays such as Easter were notorious for dumping. He said the money being spent on disposal could otherwise be going to people in need.
“We had quite a big operation at Christmas: we fed heaps of families, put on Christmas dinners and stocked people’s shelves with food,” Mr Kean said. “So, we asked for a tonne of donations. But, my goodness, the stuff that came in that rubbish was ridiculous.”
The Salvation Army seeks quality donations and cannot accept white goods or electrical items.
