‘Rubbish investigators’ search for clues and Bin Diesel to hit streets as fly-tipping cases rise
What do the figures tell us about fly-tipping in England?published at 17:20 GMT
Malcolm Prior
Rural affairs producer
It’s clear from the government’s figures the illegal dumping of waste is a national problem that isn’t going away.
The data is drawn from all the fly-tipping incidents recorded and dealt with by local authorities in England, in the 12 months to March last year – and it does not paint a pretty picture of our streets, laybys, parks and fields.
In that period, councils dealt with more than 1.25 million incidents – that is a 9% increase on the year before. Almost two-thirds of these fly-tips involved household waste – up 13% since 2023/2024.
Some people may have trusted waste‑disposal firms to get rid of rubbish legally but the government says you must check firms are registered with the Environment Agency., external
Image source, PA MediaImage caption,
A 150m-long waste mound near Kidlington, Oxfordshire, was described as “utterly appalling” by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
Ministers say fly-tippers are being dealt with. They point to the 8% rise in enforcement action by councils last year that we reported earlier and a 9% increase in fixed penalty notices. But the number of court fines has fallen by the same percentage, to just 1,250.
Today, the government issued new guidance telling councils how to seize and destroy vehicles used by the criminals, and to use CCTV, drones and Automatic Number Plate Recognition to track them down.
The Local Government Association says councils are already working tirelessly to crack down on fly-tipping but they need the government to review sentencing guidelines so the criminals could be more heavily fined.
Meanwhile, the government says every fly-tipper caught and convicted should be named and shamed on social media to try to deter other opportunist waste criminals.
