Tackling the blight caused by fly-tipping

Official fly-tipping statistics for England highlight a startling problem facing the nation.

Fly-tipping is the illegal deposit of waste on land, and costs the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds every year. If you’re caught fly-tipping, it can also land you with a substantial fine.

HIPPO have spent 15 years dedicated to disposing of waste safely and legally so we’re saddened to see that while enforcement costs have decreased, fly-tipping incidents remain high.

Not only that, our time in the industry has meant that we’ve amassed a great deal of knowledge on this issue, and it’s definitely something that needs attention. The cost of clearance for fly-tipping across the UK during 2016-17 was £57.7m.

Local authorities and the Environment Agency all have a responsibility to tackle illegally deposited waste, and with a crackdown on fly-tippers we hope to see a shift in these figures in the coming years. In 2015-16 local authorities carried out 474,000 enforcement actions with incurred an estimated cost of £16m.

Household waste accounted for 67% of total incidents, rising by 48,000 incidents since the last DEFRA report in 2015-16.

We know that there are many cost-effective ways of disposing of household rubbish, one of which is your local tip. To support the use of local tips, HIPPO has created a tip charge checker tool.

It’s also important to note that UK residents will be at risk of breaking the law and incurring substantial fines as the result of national waste disposal changes and this helpful tool can help you find your local tip, as well as the cost involved in disposing of various types of household waste.

Prosecutions reported for fly-tipping in 2016-17 came to £723,000 in fines.

Local authorities are clamping down on fly-tipping in a bid to reduce costs and save local environments, so while the latest increase could have arisen because more people have been caught and reported on, it also shows a significant increase in fly-tipping overall.

Rather than using a local household waste recycling centre, many residents have sought alternative ways to dispose of their waste. Unfortunately, an increase in rogue traders has put people at risk of large fines for the illegal disposal of their rubbish. Anyone who employs an unlicensed operator to take care of their waste is also at risk of facing charges.

Residents can use the EA Waste Carriers Checklist to check that they’re dealing with a business that is licensed to transfer waste.

There’s no denying that fly-tipping is a real issue right now, not just in a few counties but across the entire UK. It is time for us all to stand up and be part of the solution, not the problem.

We’re always looking for new ways to support customers in disposing of their waste in the right way. People can visit here to check their local tip charges and find out how the new fees will affect their region.

The tool has been created to help people check how the new so-called ‘tip tax’ will affect them and work towards reducing fly-tipping across the country.

We’ve been highlighting this issue for some time and now that DEFRA has seconded these concerns, it’s time for everyone to take responsibility on this subject not only for our generation but for generations to come.