CITY of Swan is taking an innovative approach to tackling abandoned shopping trolleys with the introduction of the Consolidated Amendment Local Law (No.2) 2023.

Under the local law, the city will impound abandoned shopping trolleys and charge a collection fee to retail owners, covering the collection cost and encouraging retailers to improve their trolley management.

Abandoned shopping trolleys have been a constant problem for many local governments, they’re unsightly and create environmental and access hazards.

This new approach comes after the city’s proactive trolley collection trials in 2020 and 2022, which saw the collection of more than 70 trolleys every week.

While the trials were effective, they proved costly and didn’t encourage retailers to manage their trolleys better.

From this week, the City of Swan will start to collect trolleys from all public areas within its boundaries with a particular focus on hotspot areas.

The trolleys will be taken to the city’s impoundment facility and retailers will be sent a notification – they’ll have one month to pay the fee and collect their trolleys.

If trolleys aren’t collected, the city will dispose of them and the fee will stand until it is paid.

City of Swan Mayor Tanya Richardson said introducing the local law was a tough but necessary approach to managing the problem.

“We’ve worked with retailers to explain our intent and encouraged them to improve their trolley management practices, providing suggestions and demonstrating our willingness to work with them to solve this problem,” she said.

“We’re committed to creating a safe and accessible environment for our community and piles of abandoned shopping trolleys counteract our efforts and have a negative impact on the Swan community.

“This new local law gives us the ability to enforce the effective management of trolleys without costing our ratepayers.”

The community is encouraged to report abandoned trolleys to the retailer first via the Snap, Send, Solve app.

Learn more about how the city is managing shopping trolleys at this webpage.