Fly-tipping is taking place on a "massive scale" across the UK, the Countryside Alliance has warned. Some 2.5 million cases of illegal dumping were recorded between April 2005 and 2006, with 1,249,527 incidents reported in Liverpool alone. The Alliance used the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to find out from local authorities the scale of the problem, which could become considerably worse if households start being charged for rubbish. Last year a think tank urged the Government to give councils powers to charge households for disposing of non-recyclable rubbish, and the Institute for Public Policy Research have suggested that such a "pay as you throw" system is the only way to improve the UK's poor recycling record.
The Alliance said its report marked the launch of a national campaign, which aims to push the issue up the agenda, and will include a National Fly-Tipping Week, from 23 to 29 April. The cost to local authorities of clearing up fly-tipping alone was nearly £100 million last year, and black bags full of domestic rubbish accounted for 63% of all fly-tipping. Last year there were just 24,460 prosecutions, meaning only one in every 100 fly-tipping offenders were prosecuted.
In other news, the Environment Agency is trialling a new telephone calling system in a bid to tackle waste crime. The new system will automatically call waste companies, such as skip operators, who could be handling waste illegally. As part of the scheme, companies advertising waste related services in the Northumberland area will be called to find out whether or not they are registered as waste carriers. This is just one of the innovative projects funded through the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Business Resource and Efficiency Waste (BREW) project.
