Stray shopping trolleys back in the spotlight as Wagga Urban Lancare's Steve Moore weighs in on the issue

"We see a lot of trolleys around the area that are thoughtlessly dumped in the waterways," Mr Moore said.

"Apart from being unsightly, the fact they are stainless steel means they take a very long time to break down in the system.

"They can cause blockages in the waterways as well."

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Mr Moore said this only adds to the litter problem around town.

"More generally, there is a lot of rubbish across [local] stormwater systems that doesn't biodegrade or takes thousands of years to do so," he said.

Mr Moore said while he has no recorded incidents of animals being caught in trolleys in our waterways, it was certainly a concern.

"It's a little like a net, so depending on how it is situated in the waterway, there is the potential for animals to get trapped in an upside-down trolley," he said.

"We would like to see more measures taken to decrease the amount of rubbish going into the local waterways."

Wagga Council said collecting stray trolleys is the responsibility of supermarkets and shopping centres.

"It's their responsibility to collect shopping trolleys on or off their premises throughout their business hours," Council's manager of environment and regulatory services Mark Gardiner said.

"As part of this process, supermarkets and shopping centres engage contractors to conduct patrols around the CBD area and in the vicinity of suburban supermarkets to collect abandoned shopping trolleys," he said.

"Wagga Council conducts random patrols a couple of times a week and any trolleys left out in the street overnight are impounded and the relevant supermarket or shopping centre is notified."

Council also revealed the number of impounded trolleys for 2022 is actually trending down with 54 impounded to date, compared to a total of 174 shopping trolleys in 2021.

Responding to the issue, Wagga supermarkets Coles and Woolworths said they were also doing their bit to stamp down on the problem.

A Coles spokesperson said it provides trolleys to its customers for their convenience and spends a significant amount to maintain them each year.

"Some of this is spent on the cost of collecting trolleys that have been removed from our premises," the spokesperson said.

"Abandoned trolleys are a nuisance to local communities and we are actively working to make this better across the nation, including regular collections of abandoned trolleys with vehicles on the road daily and installing wheel lock systems where suitable."

A Woolworths spokesperson echoed those sentiments.

"Woolworths invest millions in [trolley] collection services to help mitigate their impact in the community," the spokesperson said.

"We also work closely with dedicated collection contractors who respond quickly to reports of abandoned trolleys to return them to our stores.

"They also conduct regular sweeps for abandoned trolleys in the streets surrounding our stores.

"These efforts not only help preserve local amenity, but also ensure we have enough trolleys available for our customers in our stores."

In recent years, various measures have been introduced in an attempt to counter trolleys going astray, including tokens and electronic wheel lock systems.

However, a Coles spokesperson said wheel lock systems were not always suitable, because the business must first seek approval from council, the store landlord or centre manager.

"They may not [even] agree to the installation and the layout of a site can also mean installation is not feasible," the spokesperson said.

Any member of the community can report an abandoned trolley by visiting www.trolleytracker.com.au who then notify the supermarket or shopping centre.

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