Illegal dumping has surged by 50% since 2012 but powers to issue big fines are going unused

Fly-tipping has increased by 50% in the last six years, prompting councils to call for much bigger penalties for offenders.

More than a million incidents of illegal rubbish dumping were recorded in the financial year 2018-19, which cost councils £58m to clean up. Most incidents involved household waste being jettisoned from cars or vans by the side of a road.

The maximum fine for fly-tipping is £50,000 and/or a five-year prison sentence. But 83% of the court-imposed fines in the last six years were below £500. Only two people have been given the maximum fine since new guidelines were introduced in 2014.

Councils are handing out more on-the-spot fines and pursuing more prosecutions. Offending vehicles can be seized and in some cases are crushed. The number seized jumped to 207 last year. However, councils have lost 60% of their central government funding since 2010, meaning less money is available for action against fly-tippers.

“Fly-tipping is not only an illegal, inexcusable and ugly blight on society, it is a serious public health risk,” said David Renard, the environment spokesman for the Local Government Association and leader of Swindon borough council. “Councils are determined to crack down on the problem. However, tougher sentences are needed to act as a stronger deterrent to criminals dumping waste.

“This is why we want to work with the government on reviewing sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, so offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences, and ensure councils have the funding needed to investigate incidents.”

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The underlying causes of the rising trend in fly-tipping are not known for certain, but council officials say they have seen a rise in “man in a van” incidents, where unlicensed operators collect rubbish then dump it.

Stricter rules at council tips and charges for some refuse disposal may also be a factor. However, an increase in reporting could be responsible for part of the rise, as councils are providing more ways in which members of the public can report rubbish dumping.

Fly-tipping incidents in England fell from 1.3m in 2007-08 to 0.7m in 2012-13, according to government data. But there has been a steady rise since then to 1.1m in 2018-19. Total fines of £1m were levied last year.

Recent incidents include a delivery driver caught fly-tipping on four occasions in Hertfordshire being fined £300. In Wiltshire, a man advertising a cheap waste clearance service on Facebook was in fact fly-tipping the rubbish. He was fined £3,275.

“If someone offers to take your waste away cheaply, it will probably end up being fly-tipped in our beautiful countryside,” said the Wiltshire councillor Bridget Wayman. “You may also find yourself with a £200 fixed penalty notice and a bill for the clear-up costs.” She advised people to check that operators are properly licensed.

Fly-tipping has fallen by half in Wolverhampton after its council launched a “shop a tipper” campaign in January, where residents receive a £100 gift voucher for information leading to a fine or successful prosecution.

The council has also crushed two transit vans and two cars caught fly-tipping on CCTV. “We do not want fly-tipping in our city. If you don’t pay the fine, we will seize your vehicle and if you don’t come forward to claim it, it will be crushed,” said one councillor, Steve Evans.

South Cambridgeshire district council is also trialling a new approach, with signs at hotspots asking “Why are you fly-tipping?” Among the multiple choice answers on the sign are “I want you to prosecute me” and “My mum still cleans up after me”.

“Fly tipping is an unacceptable blight on our environment,” said environment secretary Theresa Villiers. “We’re cracking down on it. But I am clear that more must be done to stop these criminals. That is why our Resources and Waste Strategy includes a commitment to strengthen sentencing for fly-tipping.”

Penalties were increased in 2014 for a different environmental crime: water pollution. In the nine years to 2013, water companies were punished for more than 1,000 incidents, but fined a total of only £3.5m. But since the change, the fines have been much larger, with Thames Water alone being fined £20m in 2017 after huge leaks of untreated sewage into the Thames and its tributaries.