Fly-tipping incidents across England have surged by 6% over the past year, according to recent statistics highlighting a troubling increase in illegal waste disposal. Local authorities reported handling a staggering 1.15 million fly-tipping cases during the 2023/24 period, up from 1.08 million in the previous year.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, the chief executive of the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, expressed her concern regarding the rising figures. “These statistics are a tragedy. Fly-tipping is costing each and everyone of us; the increasing sums needed to clean up the mess that’s wrecking both the environment and communities where it significantly contributes to people feeling ‘left behind’,” she stated, adding that the rise in incidents to 1.15 million is “frightening and shameful.”
The majority of fly-tipping cases, approximately 60%, involved household waste, with a total of 688,000 incidents recorded for this type in 2023/24. This marks a 5% increase from 654,000 incidents in 2022/23. Additionally, the granularity of the data reveals that around 4% of all fly-tipping cases—approximately 47,000—were classified as "tipper lorry load" size or larger, reflecting an increase of 11% from 42,000 incidents in the prior year. The financial burden of clearing these larger fly-tipping incidents to local authorities was estimated at £13.1 million for 2023/24.
Ogden-Newton also called for more decisive action from the government, stating, “We need leadership from government as a matter of urgency. We must tackle the crisis in our broken waste system with national product take-back schemes, a complete reform of the waste carrier license scheme and much tougher sanctions on those criminals who are coming to people’s doors, profiting from ignorance and dumping waste wherever they fancy.” She added a plea for support for the public to dispose of unwanted items correctly, highlighting the difficulties faced by those living near frequent fly-tipping occurrences.
The data indicates a growing trend in fly-tipping that local authorities are grappling with as they allocate resources to clean up illegal dumping sites, further stressing community and environmental welfare.
Source: Noah Wire Services