There have been billboards, TV commercials and print advertisements effectively shaming people into disposing of rubbish correctly with the message "there is no excuse for littering" and encouraging people to report it when they see it

The Environmental Protection Authority says each year more than 25,000 tonnes of litter is tossed in NSW, and its reporting system is an important part of the solution.

Total litter volume has reduced by 37 per cent from 2013-14 as the NSW EPA Hey Tosser campaign works towards a target of reducing litter by 40 per cent by 2020.

But there is a down side to the reporting system as exemplified by our story on Kyle Jones, who was fined $250 by the EPA for tossing a cigarette butt out of his window despite claiming he doesn't smoke.

He jumped through several hoops and got to the point where he was going to take the matter to court before the EPA backed down.

The EPA sent the fine based on a report from a member of the public who said they had dash cam footage to prove Mr Jones tossed the cigarette butt.

They told The Mercury in a statement that the EPA "checks the evidence before issuing any fine".

But they admitted, in this instance, they didn't see the footage before sending the fine.

When push came to shove and the EPA needed the footage to present in court, the person who reported the littering did not want to be a witness.

Now we have to think, if this has happened to Mr Jones, what's not to say it hasn't happened to other people?

Mr Jones had contacts in the legal system who were willing to help him and said he had the time to follow it up, but others may not be so lucky.

Other people who smoked may have thought they accidentally tossed a cigarette butt and just paid the fine.

It's great that people can report bad behaviour, like littering, and have their complaint followed up.

But surely more care needs to be taken before people are slapped with fines and effectively branded guilty until they can prove themselves innocent, as Mr Jones put it.

Let's hope this incident puts the EPA on notice to ensure evidence is viewed and collected before people are penalised for something they perhaps didn't do.