REGULAR
THE FIGHT AGAINST FLY-TIPPING
It’s an awful thing to see, but fly-tipping continues to be a pressing concern for councils across Britain. In this month’s ‘View from the BCC’, Lee Baker, PR and Media Manager for the British Cleaning Council, looks at measures that have been taken to curb this growing problem.
From urban back streets to rural beauty spots, Britain’s green and pleasant land is being blighted by an epidemic of fly-tipping.
At a special Westminster event this summer – organised by the BCC to recognise Clean for the Queen volunteers – keynote speakers from across the political spectrum, spoke with one voice about the need to tackle this problem.
Local authorities in England deal with around 900,000 incidents of fly tipping each year, around two thirds of which is household waste. It costs almost £50million to clean up and taking offenders through the courts racks up a further £17million – money that could be spent on other vital local services.
Councils are fighting back with a range of new measures. They were recently given the power to issue on-the-spot penalty notices of up to £400 for small-scale offences such as dumping pieces of broken furniture, old televisions or mattresses.
BCC Chairman Simon Hollingbery welcomed the fines but feels that as most fly-tipping is done by un- regulated removal firms who are in effect running small businesses, these new on-the-spot penalties should
24 | Tomorrow’s Cleaning October 2016
actually be higher in order to be really effective as a deterrent.
Tougher fines and even imprisonment are available for more serious offences and for those that tip industrial waste, but catching the culprits in the act of fly-tipping isn’t easy.
Some Councils have secured convictions with hidden cameras that can be moved around easily. Others have used the internet to name and shame offenders. This beefed up response to fly-tipping has yielded some results, but there needs to be a much more centralised and fully resourced approach if the problem is to be significantly reduced.
The formation of the Litter Strategy Advisory Group and the development of a National Litter Strategy, are steps in the right direction, but the government needs to fully acknowledge the significant impact of public spending cuts on both street cleansing services and communications related to littering and fly-tipping.
A joint research project by CIWM and Ricardo-AEA in 2015 found that street cleaning was one of the first areas to be hit by budget cuts, and central funding for key organisations such as Keep Britain Tidy was axed.
This summer has, of course, seen Brexit and the transition to a new government under Theresa May, and it will be interesting to see how policy might change in this area now the austerity agenda has been jettisoned.
Moving forward, the National Litter Strategy needs a higher profile as well as clear, achievable goals. Ultimately the aim should be to reduce litter and fly-tipping but importantly, it should also encourage personal responsibility and behaviour change.
There is a growing appetite to tackle this problem as the public realise that fly-tipping is a nuisance that’s harmful to the environment, hazardous to communities and a source of pollution. They also appreciate it can be expensive to clear up and now want something done about it.
The onus must now be on the government to take a more robust approach and work with industry groups like the BCC and Keep Britain Tidy, to start the fight back against this menace that’s damaging our nation.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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