Thousands of rogue trolleys abandoned in Sydney’s south-west will meet their maker in a new council plan to rip them to shreds.
Liverpool City Council once used a machine called “the croc” to tear apart old mattresses – but now they’re feeding it thousands of shopping carts that were left abandoned in the area.
The council says putting the trolleys through the machine means the metal can be recycled instead of ending up in landfill.
“Council is spending $800,000 on landfill so the beauty is we’re not only saving money, we’re saving an expense and earning income,” Liverpool City Council acting director of operations Peter Scicluna said.
The move comes as the suburban plague of abandoned metal gets worse, with 8000 reports of abandoned trolleys found in NSW just a month and a half into the year.
Councils across Sydney say laws giving retailers four days to collect abandoned trolleys in the streets is part of the problem.
“We need to change the legislation so that council can impound them immediately. Higher fines get them off the streets,” Liverpool Council Deputy Mayor Peter Harle said.
“We need to make sure there are incentives so shopping trolley owner does the right thing.”
Council will collect the abandoned trollies and take them to the local depot.
Retailers then have 28 days to pick them up before they get fed to “The Croc”.
