Fly-tipping
Flytipping is the illegal dumping of waste. It can vary in scale significantly from a bin bag of rubbish to large quantities of waste dumped from trucks. Fly-tipped waste may be found anywhere, such as roadsides, in lay-bys or on private land.
A wide variety of wastes are fly-tipped. These include rubbish, large domestic items, such as fridges and mattresses, garden refuse, tyres and clinical waste. Large amounts of waste from construction, demolition and excavation activities are sometimes dumped. A quarter of illegal dumping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency in 2002 involved this type of waste.
Fly-tipping is a problem because:
- It is estimated to cost £100-£150 million every year to investigate and clear up. The cost falls on taxpayers and private landowners
- Fly-tipping poses a threat to humans and wildlife, damages our environment, and spoils our enjoyment of our towns and countryside
- Fly-tipping undermines legitimate waste businesses where illegal operators undercut those operating within the law. At the same time, the reputation of legal operators is undermined by rogue traders
- As with other things that affect local environment quality, areas subject to repeated fly-tipping may suffer declining property prices and local businesses may suffer as people stay away
- National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG)
- Who tackles fly-tipping?
- Flycapture
The national fly-tipping database is now available for use. Click here for details. -
Fly-tipping protocol (Acrobat, 41KB, 20 secs)
-
Welsh Addendum 1 (Acrobat, 170KB, 1 minute)
-
Appendix 1 – examples of illegal waste management and responses (Acrobat, 29KB, 10 secs)
-
Appendix 2 – summary of duties and powers (Acrobat, 29KB, 10 secs)
-
Appendix 3 - Guidelines for local agreements (Acrobat, 23KB, 30 seconds)
