The 10 most rubbish-strewn locations in England as Brits hit with £80m cleanup invoice

Jan 17, 2024 at 7:27 PM

Flytipping by side of the road with a sign that reads 'no tipping'

Flytipping prices taxpayers £80m (Image: Getty)

More than a million incidents of fly-tipping had been recorded in England final yr, with campaigners warning the problem not solely poses a widespread well being threat, but in addition hits hard-working Britons within the pocket with the general price topping £80million.

And a listing has proven the highest 10 worst affected areas – with 9 of them in London.

The newest league tables revealed the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reveal a complete of 1.08 million recorded incidents in 2022/23.

The determine is marginally decrease than the 1.09 million recorded the earlier yr – however nonetheless increased than the 980,000 incidents recorded in 2019/20, the final yr earlier than the pandemic.

Of all of the incidents recorded final yr, 60 p.c concerned family waste (653,000) whereas the commonest place for fly-tips was highways (40 p.c).

Wandsworth southwest London UK Drone, Aerial, Wansworth southwest London river Thames in background UK Drone, Aerial,

Wandsworth recorded probably the most variety of fly-tipping FPNs in 2022/23 (Image: Getty)

Local authorities undertook 536,000 enforcement actions in 2022/23, up six p.c on 507,000 in 2021/22.

In complete, 73,000 fastened penalty notices (FPNs) had been issued, with London dominating the checklist of most FPNs, with Wandsworth shelling out a whopping 5,236 all year long – probably the most of any native authority in England.

The common courtroom nice rose from £466 in 2021/22 to £526 in 2022/23 – however because of a drop in fines, the mixed worth of those fines lowered by six p.c, from £837,000 to £785,000.

Diane Crowe, Group Head of Sustainability at main worldwide round financial system specialist Reconomy, commented: “Fly-tipping is a serious issue facing local communities in this country and this DEFRA data demonstrates how widespread this crime is.

Fly Tipping In Halifax

Fly-tipping in Halifax (Image: Getty)

“Fly-tipping can endanger local habitats, damage the environment where waste is dropped and attract pests.”

The prevalence of fly-tipping additionally pointed to enhancements which may very well be made in waste administration, each by way of encouraging higher habits and a greater method to recycling, Ms Crowe careworn.

She added: “Greater education of the environmental and social impacts of fly tipping can build awareness that fly tipping is not a zero or low impact activity. Information about how and where people can safely dispose of waste can also help direct people to the relevant waste management centres, and the importance of proper disposal should be re-iterated.

“Ultimately, fly tipping slows our journey to a circular economy and inflicts a cost on both the taxpayer and the environment. Working collaboratively we can progress towards eliminating this crime and developing a more sustainable waste management culture in this country.”

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An evaluation by waste assortment service LoveJunk discovered that native authorities spent an estimated £64 million clearing up fly tipped waste from public locations – a mean of £59 per incident.

In addition, they spent £19 million on actions to catch and punish fly tippers – a mean price of £17 per incident.

Accordingly, the whole price of fly tipping to the general public in 2023 was £83 million, equal to £76 for each fly tipping incident.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, stated is was time for the general public – and Britain’s justice system – to say “enough is enough” and deal with the “selfish vandals trashing our environment for profit”.

She added: “The public can play their part by ensuring that they only give their unwanted ‘stuff’ to reputable, licensed waste carriers who will dispose of it correctly and the courts must help by using the considerable sentencing powers they have order hefty fines and even jail ‘professional fly-tippers’ when they are caught.

“Environmental crime is not a victimless crime – we are all victims of it.”

England