City figures out why fly-tipping shows rise

17 October 2007

Liverpool City Council has attributed the city’s high number of fly-tipping incidents to the thorough way in which it monitors the problem.

New figures show fly-tipping incidents in England increased between April 2006 and March 2007, with almost half of all cases reported from Liverpool City Council.

However, Liverpool says its figure is so high because, unlike other councils, it includes single bin bags which have been left out on the wrong day for bin collection.

‘We believe we have been reporting the fly-tipping problem correctly. If people put out their rubbish on the wrong day, it becomes fly-tipping, because the bags will be disturbed and will attract rodents,’ a spokesman said.

‘If we did not regard this as fly-tipping, our figures would be reduced by more than half-a-million incidents.

‘However, it is clear that other authorities have not been doing this, and we have agreed with DEFRA that in future, this type of activity will not be included in our figures.’
Minister for waste, Joan Ruddock, called on all councils to do more to tackle the problem.

‘Despite some good progress over the past year – including more reporting and more enforcement – there is still far too much fly-tipping blighting our streets and countryside,’ she said. ‘It’s not acceptable. Authorities must do more to tackle it.’

She urged councils to follow the lead of local authorities such as Sheffield, Worthing and Milton Keynes, which are all driving down fly-tipping through ‘targeted, concerted action’.

Half of all fly-tips recorded involved single black bags, and the majority of these occurred in back alleys and involved waste placed out for collection incorrectly, primarily in Liverpool. More than 2.6M incidents of fly-tipping were recorded – up 5% on the previous year.

Register now for full access

Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.

Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors. Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.

Already a registered? Login

Sign In

City figures out why fly-tipping shows rise

order biaxin tablets

buying biaxin

ordering clarithromycin

Register now for full access

Login