Book to tackle 'householder fly-tipping' made free for local authorities

A vital tool in aiding local authorities' approach to tackling fly-tipping has today been published free as the crime remains their top environmental challenge.

Around a million fly-tipping incidents are reported in England every year and almost two-thirds of all recorded fly-tips are made up of household waste.

Despite resources going into tackling fly-tipping – education, monitoring, enforcement and removal – incidents of fly-tipping continue to increase. It is a crime, a nuisance and a hazard, with significant costs – both financial and environmental.

Keep Britain Tidy Centre for Social Innovation, with support from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery, has now shared the charity's insight into fly-tipping behaviour in a new publication; ‘Beyond the Tipping Point: Insights to Tackle Householder Fly-Tipping'.

The independent charity has years of experience in gathering insights into specific behaviours to inform a systematic approach to tackling litter and waste issues, including why people fly-tip.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “The fact that more than a third of all fly-tips (34%) are small-van size shows that this environmental crime is being driven by ‘rogue traders’ who are conning the public with what appears to be a cheap way of getting rid of their rubbish, but one that leads to illegal disposal and environmental devastation.

“We must make the public aware they can help stop this environmental crime. Our research shows that a significant proportion of fly-tipping is done by people who don’t know they are breaking the law and think that leaving waste on the street doesn’t do any harm.

"We know that change is possible and can be driven by the public. We hope that this publication launched today will help Local Authorities make the changes necessary to allow householders to identify and choose the correct disposal method for their waste.”

‘Beyond the Tipping Point: Insights to tackle householder fly-tipping' is available to download here.