We all think of fly tippers as criminals in pick-up trucks dumping huge piles of waste on country lanes in the dead of night, but how accurate is that stereotype?
Fly tipping is the illegal dumping of waste, regardless of the source. It may be commercial or residential rubbish, and is considered to be fly tipped if it is left out incorrectly according to regulations. Responsibility is not only with the individual dumping, whoever paid them to dispose of it can also be liable.
In recent years, fly tipping has been on the rise. You’ve almost certainly seen piles of rubbish dumped on a country lane, in a cul-de-sac in a built up area, or just creating an eyesore thanks to some careless and reckless individuals that didn’t correctly and legally deal with their rubbish.
Why Do People Fly Tip?
In most cases, fly tipping happens for one of two reasons.
- Laziness Means People Don’t Behave Responsibly
Let’s not pretend people involved in this practice are anything other than lazy. Households in the UK all have access to council run tips, so there really is no excuse for dumping waste instead of using the provided services. - Cost Of Disposal Encourages Fly Tippers
Waste is expensive to deal with. In particular, commercial and industrial waste costs a lot to recycle or dispose of responsibly. Responsible companies factor in the cost of waste disposal in their fees. Irresponsible companies try to offer cheaper prices by dumping waste illegally. More on that below.
Is Fly Tipping Illegal And What Are The Deterrents?
Fly tipping is definitely against the law. There are fines available to prosecute people caught in the act including an on the spot fine of £1,000 (up from £400 before July 2023). They could also be traced from their waste, and fines of up to £50,000 and even custodial sentences of up to 12 months are possible for those found guilty in a Magistrates’ Court.
In addition, if a case is taken to the Crown Court, penalties can be greater. The maximum fine is not limited in this case, and if found guilty, a defendant can be convicted and sent to prison for up to five years.
What Waste Is Most Common With Fly Tipping Offences?
Given that household waste can be disposed of at council owned recycling centres, you might think that waste from businesses is likely to be the majority of the problem.
However, statistics for the most recently available year show that the vast majority of illegally dumped waste is residential.
In the 2019 to 2020 year (measured April to March), 65% of waste that was reported as fly tipped could be categorised as clearly being household waste. This includes bagged waste as you would normally place in your general waste wheelie bin and other types that cannot reasonably be classed as commercial waste.
For comparison, only 6% fell into the equivalent categories for illegal commercial rubbish dumping. The remainder was unable to be defined as either falling into domestic rubbish or commercial waste categories.
Comparing the 2018/19 year to 2019/20, the bagged waste from households in fly tipping incidents increased by 1%, while the other category (which includes DIY waste) increased by 10%.
As this only incorporates the very beginning of legal restrictions such as lockdowns, it will be interesting to see how this compares with the next 12 month period when statistics are released.
There is the perfect storm situation being played out during this period:
- People were confined to their homes for several months of the year
- Refuse collections were unpredictable as staff sickness surged
- Council run tips were closed during lockdown periods, and opening times interrupted intermittently
These together may raise the chance that people look for alternative methods of waste disposal, perhaps breaking the law and dumping waste illegally.
Where Does Fly Tipping Occur?
While the stereotype for these offences is country lanes, the truth is rather different. Over 400,000 incidents were on roads and pavements during the latest year’s data, making up the largest portion of 43% of documented offences.
Here’s the breakdown across England by location type:
| Location | Incidents (1,000s) | Percentage of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Highways | 419 | 43% |
| Bridleways | 180 | 18% |
| Council Land | 157 | 16% |
| Alleyways | 103 | 10% |
| Uncategorised | 90 | 9% |
| Residential Land | 16 | 2% |
| Other | 7 | 1% |
| Commercial Land | 4 | <1% |
Understanding the definition of fly tipping is key to understanding these statistics.
If you walk past a wheelie bin on the pavement outside a house with and extra black bag at the side, you probably think nothing of it.
Think back to the definition of fly tipping. The rules that apply to refuse collection require bags to be inside the wheelie bin, usually with the lid fully closed. That means that the rules are not being correctly followed, and strictly speaking, could be dealt with as a fly tipping incident.
Read more about bin collection rules and why your bin may not be emptied here
In this context, it’s easier to see how 976,000 fly tipping incidents were reported in the latest year’s data. That’s almost a million individual occurrences of fly tipping in England alone between April 2019 and March 2020.
Where In England Is Worst For Dumping Waste?
In the figures for England, the figures adjusted for population spread show the following number of incidents per 1,000 residents:
| Region | Incidents Per Thousand People | Percentage Of Total |
|---|---|---|
| London | 40 | 26% |
| North East | 23 | 15% |
| Yorkshire & Humberside | 17 | 11% |
| North West | 16 | 10% |
| East Midlands | 16 | 10% |
| West Midlands | 12 | 8% |
| South East | 10 | 7% |
| East | 10 | 7% |
| South West | 9 | 6% |
For comparison, 17 incidents per 1,000 residents is the England average, which broadly lines up with the Yorkshire and Humber region.
London’s rate of dumping rubbish is more than double every other region in England with the exception of the North East.
