MoreThanWaste.com - 2.6 million incidents of fly-tipping in England in 2006-07 (10/10/2007)

"Despite some good progress over the past year - including more reporting and more enforcement - there is far too much fly-tipping blighting our streets and countryside. It's not acceptable, councils must do more to tackle it"

Joan Ruddock, Minister responsible for waste management

London, UK - Results from the Government’s Flycapture System for 2006 – 07 show there were 2.6m fly-tipping incidents. Of these nearly half were reported by Liverpool City Council.

Joan Ruddock, Minister for waste today urged local authorities raise themselves up to the level of the best in tackling fly-tipping.

However the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) acknowledged that the figures show that show more fly-tipping incidents are being reported and more action is being taken to tackle them.

Ms Ruddock stressed that this was only the first stage in tackling the issue.

It is estimated that local authorities are spending £24.6 million on enforcement action against fly-tipping. Excluding Liverpool City Council, the figure is £17.8 million.

Fly-tipping of household wastes

Flycapture is the national database of fly-tipping incidents and enforcement action and was set up by Defra, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association to record the incidents and cost of illegally dumped waste dealt with by local authorities

The Environment Agency is responsible for dealing with more serious cases of illegal waste disposal. And the organisations data is currently being analysed. This will be published later.

Flycapture results

The Flycapture results include:

More than 2.6 million incidents of fly-tipping – up 5% on 2005-06.
1,289,410 incidents were reported by Liverpool City Council.
Enforcement action by local authorities (excluding Liverpool City Council), increased by 46% to 357,829 cases.
Enforcement action by all local authorities, increased by 16%. Local authorities carried out 1,371 prosecutions in 2006-07, of which 94 per cent achieved a successful outcome.

Interestingly half of all fly-tips recorded involved single black bags the majority of these considered to be occurring in back alleys generally involving waste placed out for collection incorrectly, particularly in Liverpool.

But when Liverpool City Council is excluded, 48 per cent of all recorded fly-tips occurred on the highway.

The majority of material tipped (53%) was of around a car boot or small van load in size.

The vast majority (93%) of fly-tipping takes place in predominantly urban authorities where 63% of people in England live, according to Defra.

Household waste

A major 77% (5.4% up) of fly-tips involved household waste, though when Liverpool is excluded, 56% involve household waste (10% up) according to Defra.

Examples of good practice

Examples of good practice in tackling fly-tipping are provided by Defra:

London Borough of Islington

Islington has seen a 47 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 8,812 to 4,610. The council increased inspection and monitoring of fly-tip hotspots, used data from Flycapture to deal with specific problems of commercial and bulky waste and launched a communications drive with local residents. It also restructured its street environment team for maximum effectiveness.

Milton Keynes Council (South East)

Milton Keynes has seen a 35 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 3,511 to 2,252. Staff numbers on the enforcement team have increased, Flycapture data has been used to identify hotspots and covert surveillance has been carried out at them, leading to prosecutions, penalty notices and cautions. Opening hours have also been extended at civic amenity sites.

Sheffield City Council

Sheffield has seen a 33 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 161,898 to 108,884. Following data showing that hot spots were appearing on housing estates, the council subsequently revised collection arrangements in areas of high density housing. In particular, a "red bag" scheme was introduced, offering students additional refuse collection at the end of term. The council has also worked with South Yorkshire Police and the Environment Agency on stop and search operations and wider rogue trader operations.

Worthing Borough Council (South East)

Worthing has seen a 33 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 2,248 to 1,484. Following data showing that fly-tipping problems were centred around household black bag waste in or around properties with poor storage, the council installed street bins for these properties and issued residents with notices requiring them to use the bins. Checks were carried out with all businesses in the surrounding areas to ensure that commercial waste was not dumped in the bins.

Waste Strategy for England

Defra says that the Waste Strategy for England 2007 makes it clear that initiatives to boost recycling should be supported by fly-tipping strategies aimed at preventing the illegal dumping of waste. Decisions about the most appropriate household waste collection services are a matter for local authorities, not central Government.

Government initiatives

Government is also undertaking other initiatives to tackle fly-tipping including a review of legislation and controls; developing legislation to stop, search and instantly seize vehicles being used; gaining a better understand of how small businesses and householders deal with waste and continued funding of Environment Agency's targeted campaigns.

In addition the Government is funding the Environment Agency to develop Flycapture Enforcement, a training programme aimed at local authority officers and their legal teams to increase knowledge of the relevant legislation and to develop skills in effective enforcement and prosecution of fly-tipping. Environmental charity, ENCAMs and the Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM) have joined up to co-ordinate the delivery of the package throughout England and Wales.

Comments

Ms Ruddock said:

"Councils as diverse as Sheffield, Worthing and Milton Keynes are driving down fly-tipping through targeted, concerted action. I want other councils to follow their lead.

"Government has a role to play in this by continuing to provide and update the tools and guidance to enable action to be taken. And the public and businesses must also play a part by reporting incidents and dealing with their waste responsibly.

"In short, we can only clean up our streets by all working together."

Further Information

Full Flycapture results for 2006/07, broken down by local authority area, are available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/flytipping/flycapture.htm
The Government's action plan on illegal waste activity is included at Annex F to its Waste Strategy for England 2007. Details can be found at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/strategy/strategy07/index.htm


	2.6 million incidents of fly-tipping in England in 2006-07 (10/10/2007) "Despite some good progress over the past year - including more reporting and more enforcement - there is far too much fly-tipping blighting our streets and countryside. It's not acceptable, councils must do more to tackle it" Joan Ruddock, Minister responsible for waste management London, UK - Results from the Government’s Flycapture System for 2006 – 07 show there were 2.6m fly-tipping incidents. Of these nearly half were reported by Liverpool City Council. Joan Ruddock, Minister for waste today urged local authorities raise themselves up to the level of the best in tackling fly-tipping. However the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) acknowledged that the figures show that show more fly-tipping incidents are being reported and more action is being taken to tackle them. Ms Ruddock stressed that this was only the first stage in tackling the issue. It is estimated that local authorities are spending £24.6 million on enforcement action against fly-tipping. Excluding Liverpool City Council, the figure is £17.8 million. Fly-tipping of household wastes Flycapture is the national database of fly-tipping incidents and enforcement action and was set up by Defra, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association to record the incidents and cost of illegally dumped waste dealt with by local authorities The Environment Agency is responsible for dealing with more serious cases of illegal waste disposal. And the organisations data is currently being analysed. This will be published later. Flycapture results The Flycapture results include: More than 2.6 million incidents of fly-tipping – up 5% on 2005-06. 1,289,410 incidents were reported by Liverpool City Council. Enforcement action by local authorities (excluding Liverpool City Council), increased by 46% to 357,829 cases. Enforcement action by all local authorities, increased by 16%. Local authorities carried out 1,371 prosecutions in 2006-07, of which 94 per cent achieved a successful outcome. Interestingly half of all fly-tips recorded involved single black bags the majority of these considered to be occurring in back alleys generally involving waste placed out for collection incorrectly, particularly in Liverpool. But when Liverpool City Council is excluded, 48 per cent of all recorded fly-tips occurred on the highway. The majority of material tipped (53%) was of around a car boot or small van load in size. The vast majority (93%) of fly-tipping takes place in predominantly urban authorities where 63% of people in England live, according to Defra. Household waste A major 77% (5.4% up) of fly-tips involved household waste, though when Liverpool is excluded, 56% involve household waste (10% up) according to Defra. Examples of good practice Examples of good practice in tackling fly-tipping are provided by Defra: London Borough of Islington Islington has seen a 47 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 8,812 to 4,610. The council increased inspection and monitoring of fly-tip hotspots, used data from Flycapture to deal with specific problems of commercial and bulky waste and launched a communications drive with local residents. It also restructured its street environment team for maximum effectiveness. Milton Keynes Council (South East) Milton Keynes has seen a 35 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 3,511 to 2,252. Staff numbers on the enforcement team have increased, Flycapture data has been used to identify hotspots and covert surveillance has been carried out at them, leading to prosecutions, penalty notices and cautions. Opening hours have also been extended at civic amenity sites. Sheffield City Council Sheffield has seen a 33 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 161,898 to 108,884. Following data showing that hot spots were appearing on housing estates, the council subsequently revised collection arrangements in areas of high density housing. In particular, a "red bag" scheme was introduced, offering students additional refuse collection at the end of term. The council has also worked with South Yorkshire Police and the Environment Agency on stop and search operations and wider rogue trader operations. Worthing Borough Council (South East) Worthing has seen a 33 per cent reduction in fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 from 2,248 to 1,484. Following data showing that fly-tipping problems were centred around household black bag waste in or around properties with poor storage, the council installed street bins for these properties and issued residents with notices requiring them to use the bins. Checks were carried out with all businesses in the surrounding areas to ensure that commercial waste was not dumped in the bins. Waste Strategy for England Defra says that the Waste Strategy for England 2007 makes it clear that initiatives to boost recycling should be supported by fly-tipping strategies aimed at preventing the illegal dumping of waste. Decisions about the most appropriate household waste collection services are a matter for local authorities, not central Government. Government initiatives Government is also undertaking other initiatives to tackle fly-tipping including a review of legislation and controls; developing legislation to stop, search and instantly seize vehicles being used; gaining a better understand of how small businesses and householders deal with waste and continued funding of Environment Agency's targeted campaigns. In addition the Government is funding the Environment Agency to develop Flycapture Enforcement, a training programme aimed at local authority officers and their legal teams to increase knowledge of the relevant legislation and to develop skills in effective enforcement and prosecution of fly-tipping. Environmental charity, ENCAMs and the Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM) have joined up to co-ordinate the delivery of the package throughout England and Wales. Comments Ms Ruddock said: "Despite some good progress over the past year - including more reporting and more enforcement - there is far too much fly-tipping blighting our streets and countryside. It's not acceptable, councils must do more to tackle it. "Councils as diverse as Sheffield, Worthing and Milton Keynes are driving down fly-tipping through targeted, concerted action. I want other councils to follow their lead. "Government has a role to play in this by continuing to provide and update the tools and guidance to enable action to be taken. And the public and businesses must also play a part by reporting incidents and dealing with their waste responsibly. "In short, we can only clean up our streets by all working together." Further Information Full Flycapture results for 2006/07, broken down by local authority area, are available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/flytipping/flycapture.htm The Government's action plan on illegal waste activity is included at Annex F to its Waste Strategy for England 2007. Details can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/strategy/strategy07/index.htm (Source GNN - Elements of this article are Crown © 2007).