Tipping the balance in fly-tipping battle

24 October 2008

Fly-tipping across England has fallen by 7.5% in 12 months, according to latest figures published by DEFRA.

Other key findings in the Flycapture report for 2007-08 include a 25% increase in the number of enforcement actions issued by local authorities.

There were 1,871 prosecutions for fly-tipping carried out in the period and 95% of these achieved a successful outcome. Enforcement action cost local authorities an estimated £16.8M.

Half of all recorded fly-tips occurred on the highway, while 60% of incidents dealt with by local authorities involved household waste. This is approximately the same as in 2006-07. Local authorities dealt with 1.28M fly-tipping incidents at a cost of almost £74M to clear up. Councils in London spent the most – £22.2M – while it cost those in the Southwest the least, at £2.6M.

The Environment Agency dealt with a total of 700 illegal waste dumping incidents, a drop from 982 in 2006-07, at an estimated cost of £ 94,000. It took 183 prosecutions forward in relation to illegal waste activities, resulting in more than £401,000 in fines.

The report also found the EA prosecuted more than 25% of the incidents it investigated, an increase on 16% last year. Waste minister, Jane Kennedy, said: ‘I am pleased to see the decrease in incidents, but we still need to work on the serious environmental and social problem of fly-tipping.

‘Local authorities are doing well in the fight, and the increased number of successful prosecutions is encouraging. No-one should have to accept fly-tipping in their area, and I am determined to make fly-tipping a thing of the past.’

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