—
There were close to one million instances of illegal fly-tipping on public land in 2019/20.
In reality, illegal fly-tipping is likely to be a much higher proportion because official figures don’t include instances of fly-tipping on private land – which aren’t recorded.
In the same year, the Environment Agency dealt with close to 1,000 organized illegal waste sites.
These are the headline results of a study into illegal fly-tipping and waste dumping in the UK by Material Focus, which paints a stark picture of the current state of illegal waste dumps and scams in the UK.
According to the report:
- About 1.82m tonnes of waste fell outside the legitimate system because of fly-tipping on public land or being disposed of at illegal waste sites
- These problems are amounting to about £176m in lost landfill tax (although this is likely to be significantly higher because dumping on private property isn’t included in the stats)
- Local councils were forced to clear up just under one million fly-tips (976,000) including 58,000 waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) fly-tipping incidents involving ‘white goods’.
- The total weight of fly-tipped waste is thought to be around 87,363 tonnes
So what’s causing the problem?
One explanation given in the Material Waste report is a concern that the carrier, broker and dealer (CBD) registration system – which deals with who can move waste in England – doesn’t function properly or is being misused.
The report highlights that this is resulting in criminal exploitation, with the number of unregistered carriers, brokers and dealers thought to be very hard.
It is thought this is making it harder for households to check registered waste collectors against those on the register.
One of the biggest concerns highlighted in the report, is the over-reliance on small punitive fines for those companies discovered to be operating without a license.
The report states that the fines – usually in the hundreds of pounds – doesn’t factor in the higher financial gains of companies operating illegally and that the money they’re able to make from illegal collections far outweighs the fines they can be subjected to.
However, it also highlights a difficulty in escalating more cases to court – as they should be – due to a lack of resources in councils and the Environment Agency.
Is it time for better regulation?
What the report shows is that there is a need to reform the way the CBD register works.
The aim should be to increase the consequences for illegal dumping and make it significantly easier for homeowners to check that the companies they’re using are legitimate.
But even as the Material Waste report highlights, fixing the CBD register in isolation won’t fix the larger problem with illegal dumping sites and fly-tipping.
Over time, there needs to be a combination of stricter enforcement and consequences, along with a tightening of registration for waste companies.
Not only will this protect homeowners from falling victim to illegal waste collections, but make it better for legitimate waste collection services at the same time.
How to reduce the risk of fly-tipping
If you’re concerned about your home, garden or commercial being illegally dumped once it’s been removed, the best thing to do is always use a regulated, responsible waste removal service like LITTA.
As fully licensed removal companies you can be sure your waste will be disposed of correctly and recycled whenever possible.
Because you’ll have all the necessary company information, you can more easily report any waste that is removed and not disposed of correctly, so you’re better protected.
And because you can check these removal companies with the Environment Agency register, you can be reassured you’re using a legitimate waste removal company.
An alternative is to dispose of your waste yourself at a tip or recycling centre, but this obviously involves a lot of effort and time on your behalf.
—
