The government is looking at a range of measures to prevent fly-tipping, including giving the councils the power to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.
Fly-tipping is the illegal disposal of household, industrial, commercial or other ‘controlled’ waste. The waste can be liquid or solid. ‘Controlled’ waste includes garden refuse and larger domestic items such as fridges and mattresses.
Fly-tipping is not the same as littering, which is commonly assumed to include materials, often associated with smoking, eating and drinking.
For the 2023/24 year, local authorities in England dealt with 1.15 million fly-tipping incidents, an increase of 6% from the 1.08 million reported in 2022/23.
In 2023/24, 60% of fly-tips involved household waste. Total incidents involving household waste were 688,000 in 2023/24, an increase of 5% from 654,000 incidents in 2022/23.
Responding in a recent parliamentary Q&A, MP Mary Creagh noted that Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which it works with a wide range of interested parties, including local authorities, to share good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping.
“The NFTPG has developed various practical tools, including guides on how councils and others can present robust cases to court, set up and run effective local partnerships to tackle fly-tipping and raise awareness of the household and business waste duty of care,” she said.
She added that the government was looking at giving councils more power to take the fight to fly-tippers.
“The government encourages councils to make good use of their enforcement powers, and we are seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance to support councils to consistently, appropriately and effectively exercise these existing powers,” she said.
“We have also announced a review of council powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.”
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