Time for action as fly-tipping reaches all time high

Charity calls for better public education and review of licensing system as incidents top 1.1Million

Commenting on today’s news, released by Defra, that there were 1.13 million individual fly-tipping incidents reported by councils in England in 2020-21, Keep Britain Tidy has renewed its call for concerted action by all those who have a role to play in tackling an environmental crime that blights our environment and costs millions of pounds to clear up.

Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said:

“We fully expected the fly-tipping figures to rise significantly this year due to a combination of factors caused by the pandemic and last year’s spring lockdown.

“These figures are still incredibly disappointing and we, as a country, need to do more to educate the public about how to get rid of unwanted stuff safely and legally.

“We also need to take a long, hard look at the licensing scheme for waste carriers to make sure it is fit for purpose and then, for those who are fly-tipping for profit, catch and prosecute them for trying to turn our country into one giant rubbish dump to make a quick buck.

“If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it is that the environment on our doorstep is vitally important to us all and needs our protection. Those who would abuse it for their own ends should face the full force of the law.

“There is no doubt that it has been an extraordinary 18 months but as we move forward and think about ‘building back greener’ we must surely start with protecting our environment from this vandalism. If we can’t do that, then what hope is there for tackling the global challenges that we face?”

Keep Britain Tidy recently unveiled the results of its programme – Better Streets – done in partnership with Newham Council that reduced fly-tipping by up to 72%. Find out more about the programme here

You can view Keep Britain Tidy’s Fly-tipping Action Plan here