The Salvation Army is pleading for people not to

leave unusable goods and rubbish outside its stores during the festive

season, saying the clean-up costs the charity $6 million annually.

Salvos

Stores general manager Neville Barrett said there was an increase of

unusable goods dumped outside stores after hours at this time of year,

while quality goods were stolen.

He said the Salvos were forced

to deal with more than 20 million kilograms of rubbish annually across

Australia, the equivalent of taking 4,000 truckloads to the tip.

“Part

of the problem is the public’s misconception that everything is

recyclable and can be used by the Salvation Army,” he said.

“This is not the case because if an item cannot be reused or be recycled it should not be donated.

“We

wish to emphasise that we cannot accept broken furniture, stained,

ripped or torn mattresses … we ask people not to dump these and

similar items outside our stores over Christmas as it places an

unnecessary burden on the Salvation Army.”

Mr Barrett said the Salvos greatly appreciated the support from the community for the stores.

He said donating goods helped those in need and also cared for the environment by reducing landfill.

“We ask that people continue to donate,” he said.

“We ask that people do clarify what is appropriate to donate.”

People can check what to donate by calling 13 72 58 or by visiting salvos.org.au/stores.