North East, UK - The Facts About Fly Tipping

Fly-tipping is defined as the ‘illegal deposit of any waste onto land that does not have a licence to accept it’. Waste Management companies like 1st Choice Waste will responsibly recycle and dispose of your waste meaning there is absolutely no reason why fly-tipping is an option, whether you are a homeowner or business.

Fly-tipping is deemed as rubbish which could be a mattress, electrical items or a bin bag of household rubbish being left on a street or lane through to dumping a van-load of construction materials on farmland or a back lane. If where you are leaving the rubbish isn’t a licenced waste site then it is classed as fly-tipping and you could face serious fines and even imprisonment.

What are the penalties for fly-tipping?

Fly-tipping is taken very seriously and is a criminal offence for which you can be prosecuted. The courts have powers to tackle fly-tipping, including unlimited fines, imprisonment and they are able to deprive you of the rights to a vehicle if it has been used to commit an offence.

What happens if someone fly-tips on my personal land?

If someone fly-tips on your private property then, unfortunately, you are responsible for clearing it. You should always report it to your local authority and ask for their advice. They often won’t clear rubbish left from fly-tipping from your land for free but they may investigate and prosecute. It has been known for disposal costs to be recovered if you have detailed records and prosecution is successful.

###

Why is fly-tipping so bad?

Fly-tipping has a significant impact on our local environments in regards to pollution, having a negative impact and a danger to wildlife and it can be a danger to public health as well.

Fly-tipping undermines legal waste disposal and when done by waste management companies it significantly reduces their costs, meaning they can make more money for themselves or undercut legitimate waste management businesses who are disposing of their waste in a legal and environmentally friendly way.

According to government stats, there are over 1,000,000 fly-tipping incidents which are dealt with by local councils every year, this equates to nearly 114 incidents every hour which are quite shocking.

Why are there different penalties for fly-tipping?

There are different fines and penalties which relate to the scale of the illegal disposal of waste.

Most fly-tipping cases are heard at a magistrates’ court, here the greatest prison term permitted is 12 months and the biggest fine is £50,000. As an example, in 2016 a meat and poultry business who was illegally disposing of their waste was fined just over £25,000 at magistrates’ court. The amount fined considers the scale of the waste being disposed of.

Over 98% of fly-tipping prosecutions in the UK and Wales result in a conviction.

The Environmental Protection Act 1990

Anyone who produces waste or anyone who collects waste has a duty of care under the Act to ensure that it is disposed of properly and legally. This is to ensure the waste is not fly-tipped. As a business or householder even if you have paid someone to take away your waste if they are not licensed to do so you can still be found guilty of an offence.

Contact 1st Choice Waste Management today on 01642 478 734 and find out how we can support you to dispose of your waste.

Find out all you need to know here: 1stchoicewastegroup.co.uk/facts-about-fly-tipping/