England has been exposed as a nation of fly-tippers with more than one million incidents of illegal waste dumping being reported last year, according to new data which was released today.
Despite the number of fly-tipping reports falling just one per cent from 1.09million in 2021/22 to 1.08million in 2022/23, the number of fines issued by local councils dropped by 19 per cent, from 91,000 to 73,000
The statistics, published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) today, reveal England’s fly-tipping hotspots, with Brent in north west London taking the top spot with 34,830 reports in 2022/23.
Out of these, just 2,220 – or 6.4 per cent – resulted in a fixed penalty notice (FPN) being issued, ranking in 56 out of 309 local authorities.
Of the top 20 areas for fly-tipping reports, 20 were in London, including: Camden, Westminster, Hackney, Hounslow and Lewisham taking the top six spots.
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Britain’s worst fly-tipping hotspots ranked, according to new data from Defra
Rubbish piles in Hoad’s Wood, Kent, a beauty spot and Site of Special Scientific Interest
A fly-tipper was caught ‘red handed’ illegally dumping hazardous building waste in a country lane in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire
Although England’s once green and pleasant land is now littered with rubbish, just 1,665 prosecutions for fly-tipping were made in the 2022/23.
And 181 (59% of) councils did not prosecute anyone for fly-tipping offences, despite these councils facing 502,708 fly-tipping incidents between them.
Councils issued 73,316 fixed penalty notices relating to fly tipping. Around seven per cent of all fly tips. However, 87 per cent of those FPNs were never paid.
And 43 councils did not issue any FPNs at all, despite suffering 44,291 fly tipping incidents between them.
The national cost of clearing up fly tipped rubbish in 2023 was estimated at nearly £64million. The cost of actions taken to catch and punish fly tippers was more than £18.7million. The total cost to the taxpayer therefore was nearly £82.7million, equivalent to around £76 per fly-tipping. incident.
Jason Mohr, founder of waste removal and reuse marketplace LoveJunk, said: ‘The current system of ad hoc fines and prosecutions isn’t working. Fly tipping rates remain broadly unchanged, the chance of fly tippers getting caught and punished are remote, and the cost to the public of clear up and enforcement huge.
‘The way to stop fly tipping fast is simply to ban cash payment for waste collections and to require all waste collectors to show photo ID and a waste carrier license before a pickup.’
A huge heap of 200 tonnes of waste was found on a dirt track north of Congleton, Cheshire
A HGV was spotted by police carrying 35 tonnes of rubbish on the site in August last year
Fly-tipped waste on the side of the road in rural Scotland
Country Land and Business Association President Victoria Vyvyan said: ‘These fly-tipping figures barely scratch the surface of a crime that’s blighting rural communities, with incidents on private land going unrecorded on a mass scale.
‘Farmers and landowners bear the cost of removing rubbish and they pay on average £1,000 to remove waste. This is not a victimless crime – in some cases they have paid up to £100,000 to clear up other people’s mess or risk facing prosecution themselves.
‘It’s not just litter blotting the landscape, but tonnes of household and commercial waste which can often be hazardous – even including asbestos and chemicals – endangering farmers, wildlife, livestock, crops and the environment.
‘While courts can sentence offenders to prison or unlimited fines, prosecutions are rare and criminals clearly do not fear the system. We are calling for local authorities to help clear fly-tipping incidents on private as well as public land, while the various enforcement agencies must be properly trained and resourced.
‘Without more progress farmers, not the criminals, will continue to pay the price.’
Recycling Minister Robbie Moore said: ‘Fly-tipped rubbish is a blight on the landscape, and a burden on councils to clean up – so it’s absolutely right for councils to take strong action whenever a crime is committed.
‘We are making solid progress – with enforcement up by 6% and fly-tipping decreasing for the second year in a row – but we know there is more to do.
‘That’s why we are helping councils to take the fight to criminals, with additional grants to tackle fly-tipping, higher £1,000 on-the-spot fines for offenders and powers to stop, search, and seize vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping.’
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