The Growing Problem of Fly Tipping and its Effect on the Environment
Fly tipping is a major problem, which affects councils, local people and areas of wildlife across the UK.
Beyond simply being an absolute eyesore, fly tipping is a major problem. If spotted, it’s an issue that needs to be dealt with urgently and completely. Otherwise, it will have a highly destructive impact on the surrounding area for many, many years to come.
In order to help you identify and tackle fly tipping, here at EnviroCraft, we have provided this complete guide to the growing problem of fly tipping and its effect on the environment.
See our other guides for Home Waste, Office Waste, Factory Waste, and Hazardous Waste.
The above is from South Derbyshire District Council – Mackworth, the woman responsible was given a £1,455 fly tipping fine.
What is Fly Tipping?
Fly tipping can be defined as an instance where someone has disposed of their rubbish in an unauthorised place (such as privately owned land, or a public space).
Although fly tipping is similar to littering, littering usually denotes small pieces of rubbish (such as food wrappers).
In comparison, the term fly tipping is usually reserved for larger objects. Items such as broken fridges, old furniture or faulty technology are all commonly seen discarded and abandoned, in an act of fly tipping.
Furthermore, the nature of fly tipping is notably different to littering. Littering is (although still a crime and a major problem) typically done in a thoughtless moment. For example, you eat a chocolate bar, then drop the wrapper on the street.
In comparison, fly tipping is a planned waste crime, which is done for the sake of convenience. The items that are most commonly fly tipped are so large that the owner would have to pay to have them disposed of. Or, they would have to pay a disposal specialist to remove them safely (such as construction waste).
As a result, it is easier for them to abandon the rubbish in another location, where someone else has to deal with it.
Why is Fly Tipping such a problem for the Environment?
Firstly, it is a major environmental issue. Many of the most common items that are fly tipped have a high plastic content, and so, are non-biodegradable. This means that they will remain there, as they are, for hundreds of years. These parts of plastic will, over time, sink into the earth and pollute the soil. Or, as they break down into smaller fragments, these pieces will be consumed by wildlife. Ingesting a piece of plastic could cause serious harm to any animal.
Furthermore, these discarded objects often contain hazardous chemicals. For example, fridges contain chemical liquids, and construction waste may contain dangerous materials, such as asbestos. If fly tipped, these chemicals will seep into the soil, and cause a serious threat to any wildlife within that area.
The local community also has to deal with the consequences of fly tipped waste. Firstly, they have to pay huge amounts of tax, so that the council can deal with this waste. Rather than this money being used to improve the local area, or being invested into helping the people themselves, it has to be used to move fly tipped waste.
Furthermore, fly tipping often occurs by roads. As a result, it presents a major hazard to road users. Since this is such a concerning health and safety risk, the council has to invest a lot of its funds and manpower into ensuring that fly tipped waste is dealt with quickly.
Fly tipping is not only done by inconsiderate individuals – it is also a common criminal activity. This concerning trend was outlined in the recent fly tipping report, published by the House of Commons Library:
‘Organised fly-tipping can accumulate into serious crime. Criminals advertise ‘waste clearing services’ to local households and businesses, but the waste they are paid to remove is dumped at illegal sites, which are usually situated on public or private land and accessed using force, threats, intimidation and violence.
- ‘It can cost anywhere from £10,000 to £500,000 to clear a single site, and criminals often return once a site has been cleared, repeating the cycle.’
How often does Fly Tipping happen in the UK?
Unfortunately, fly tipping occurs more commonly than you may realise.
The government recently published the official fly tipping statistics for England, 2020 to 2021.
The report revealed that, for the 2020/21 year, ‘local authorities in England dealt with 1.13 million fly-tipping incidents, an increase of 16% from the 980,000 reported in 2019/20.’
Furthermore, ‘just under two thirds (65%) of fly-tips involved household waste. Total incidents involving household waste were 737,000 in 2020/21, an increase of 16% from 635,000 incidents in 2019/20.’
The most common spots used for fly tipping were highways (43% of total incidents that year).
To give you an indication of cost, 4% of these fly tipping incidents involved waste that was of ‘tipper lorry load’ size or larger. The cost of clearing these large fly tipping incidents (paid by local authorities in England) was £11.6 million. That’s not including the other 96% of incidents.
Top 5 Fly Tipping Incidents in England by Waste Type
Gov.uk collected data from across all councils in England, to provide the details you see below.
Fridges and Washing Machines
These are two of the most common fly tipped items. This is because they contain a number of different parts, made of several different materials, and chemical liquid, which needs to be processed carefully. As a result, they are a complicated item to correctly dispose of, which translates to a higher cost.
But, these elements also mean that they are highly damaging to the environment. Plus, it also makes fridges and washing machines a particularly expensive form of fly tipping (a cost which councils and taxpayers have to cover).
Household Waste
Household waste is commonly fly tipped, in large black bin liners. This could be any form of day-to-day waste, which is often discarded because the homeowner doesn’t have enough space in their black bin, and doesn’t want to have to pay for the extra waste to be removed.
The high food content of this waste attracts a lot of pests and insects, causing major problems for the owner of the property where the fly tipping occurred. What’s more, this can make the removal of the waste a much more difficult and costly task, as pest control will also be required from the removal experts.
Construction Waste
After a construction project at a property, a skip or waste removal service will be required to remove the debris. But, rather than paying for a skip, some criminals will fly tip the waste instead. This waste is usually non-biodegradable, and can contain toxic substances, such as asbestos.
Technology
Broken or outdated technology is a common type of fly tipping waste. As with fridges and washing machines, tech items (also known as WEEE) are usually made of numerous parts, and can contain harmful substances.
Vehicles
Sometimes, entire vehicles can be fly tipped. If a vehicle is broken, this is done by the owner to avoid paying scrapping fees. However, fly tipped vehicles present a major threat, as they are a fire hazard, are filled with harmful chemicals, and broken glass makes it dangerous for both animals and humans visiting the area.
So, what can we do about this problem? How can we tackle the issue of fly tipping?
As a responsible waste disposal company, EnviroCraft works to minimise the amount of waste that gets sent to landfill. We are absolutely committed to our high standards of safety and environmental sustainability – both of which are of vital importance when dealing with fly tipping issues.
When we are called to help tackle a fly tipping site, we provide a fast and efficient waste disposal service, while keeping recycling rates as high as possible (as part of our zero to landfill target).
By working with our specialist, responsible waste disposal team, you can protect the people and wildlife in your area, and ensure these issues are tackled with care and precision.
To find out more about our specialist fly tipping removal services, contact our team today.