Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Fly-tipping statistics 2014/15, released this week, show illegal dumping is on the increase
The latest UK Government reports into fly-tipping, published on Tuesday, show that despite the threat of more severe fines for those convicted of the illegal dumping of waste, the practise is on the increase, with the estimated cost of clearance to local authorities in England alone in 2014/15 nearly £50 million - an 11% increase on 2013/14.
In England, local authorities dealt with a total of 900,000 incidents of fly-tipping in 2014/15, an increase of 5.6% since 2013/14 (852,000 incidents) with nearly two thirds involving household waste. Interestingly, while in 2007/08 incidents of 'single black bag' size were 11%, they decreased to 5% in 2014/15.
The most common place for fly-tipping was on highways, which accounted for 48% of total incidents in 2014/15, while incidents of fly-tipping on footpaths, bridleways and back alleyways increased by 3.2%. Together these now account for 28% of fly-tipping incidents.
Nearly a third of all incidents consisted of a quantity of material equivalent to a 'small van load'. The second largest size category for fly-tipping incidents was 'car boot' and accounted for nearly 30% of total incidents.
Local authorities carried out nearly 515,000 enforcement actions at an estimated cost of £17.6 million in 2014/15, a £0.3 million increase on the previous year. This equated to an increase of 3.1% on enforcement actions in the same period.
Incidents involving the Environment Agency or cleared by private landowners are not included in the figures.
During the quality assurance process for both 2013/14 and 2014/15 data, local authorities reporting increases for fly-tipping incidents, explained the reasons for this as being the introduction of new technologies such as on-line reporting and electronic applications, increased training for staff and a more pro-active approach to removing fly-tipping.
The full and extensive report in terms of statistics and other interesting information is available for download at:
22nd October 2015