The number of fly-tipping cases rose by 16% last year, as authorities had to handle 1.13million pieces of trash dumped along the country’s roads and beauty spots.
According to government figures, the fly-tipping incidents rose 980,000 over the year prior. 65% of these cases were caused by household waste.
It was 485 percent of all cases that were dumped on streets and pavements. Next came the footpaths or bridleways with 198 per 1,000.
London, however, was named the most soiled region. There were 43 incidents of flytipping per 1,000 residents in the area, South West had the highest rate of cleanliness, at 10 per 1000 people.
Despite the rise in cases, the number of court fines issued for fly-tipping dropped by 51 per cent to just 1,313 from 2,672 in 2019/2020 – with the total value of the fines decreased by 62 per cent to £440,000 from £1.2 million last year.
Also, the number of council enforcement actions fell four percent to 456,000, as compared with 474,000 in 2019-2020.
This year, there were mounds of garbage, including sofas and cars tyres that littered a Newport area.
A deserted Newport road was left with pieces of furniture, bricks, and tiles.
A fishing boat was dumped outside a primary school in Berkshire this year, prompting council bosses to offer £100 gift cards for information that might lead to arrest
The number of fixed penalties notices fell by 24% to 57 600 in 2020/2021, compared with 75,000.
The Government data also showed the most common quantity of rubbish to be dumped was equivalent to a small van load, accounting for 34 per cent of total cases, followed by a load of a car boot size or less at 26 per cent.
Nearly 39,000 tons of dump waste were found to be sufficient to fill tipper trucks. That’s 4 percentage of the total. It was up from just 16 percent in 2019, 2020, and that of 33,000.
Clearing up all the large fly-tipping incidents also cost local authorities in England £11.6 million, up from £10.9 million the previous year.
From 2020 through 2021, 43 percent of fly-tipping cases occurred on roads.
Fly-tipping on public land and “footpaths” and “bridleways” accounted for around 17% of incidents.
In explaining the data the Government pointed out that they included last year’s first coronavirus national lockdown in March 2020 which affected many recycling programmes run by local authorities.
Some allow dry recycling to be collected suspended, while others suspend bulky or garden waste collection.
There was also widespread closing of recycling centers for household waste, but many were reopened after updates to the social distancing guidelines.
According to government data, fly-tipping incidents rose by 16% last year. 1.13 million cases of trash were dumped along the country’s roads and beauty spots.
London was listed as the worst region for flytipping, with 43 cases per thousand residents. The South West, however, was rated cleanest at 10 incidents per 1,000 inhabitants.
Fly-tipping incidents have always been most prevalent on highways, which account for 43% of incidents for 2020/21
The Government suggested that fly-tipping may have been driven by changes in household purchases during lockdown as well as travel and leisure habits.
The number of investigations may be reduced by staff shortages in local authorities and redeployment or furloughing of employees.
Local authorities have reported that closing courts at certain points during the lockdowns of the past year had an impact on the number and success rate in prosecuting.
Country Land and Business Association (CLA) represents rural businesses throughout England and Wales. They noted that these figures only include fly-tipping on public lands, and they don’t tell the whole story.
It said the ‘vast majority’ of fly-tipping occurs on private land, with one of its members facing a £100,000 bill to clear up just one incident.
Mark Tufnell (President of the CLA) stated: “These numbers don’t tell all the story of this dishonorable behaviour that blights the beauty of our beautiful country.
“Local authorities are not inclined to clear fly-tipped trash from private property, so the landowner must clean it up. This can often lead to a high bill.”
An increasing number of fly-tipping cases is leading to people dumping waste on the roadside at Newport.
He said, “Fly-tipping continues its destructive impact on the lives of many people who live and work in rural areas – significant progress must be made to end it.”
“It is not only the odd bag, but also large household items such as unwanted sofas, broken washing machines, building material, and asbestos that are being dumped all over our country.
Wokingham Borough Council announced in April they were looking for fly-tippers that dumped a yellow kayak outside Crowthorne Primary School, Berkshire.
Just days earlier, it was here A mobile home, which was estimated to have cost owners several thousand of pounds at first purchase, was also abandoned in the vicinity.
In September Bradley Lynn, 23, and Connor Williams, 28, were caught on camera plaguing neighbourhoods with mounds of rubbish – but avoided jail and instead had to pay a fine of just £400 each.
Fly-tippers were captured carrying piles of trash to be dumped at abandoned roadsides. in Newport, South Wales.
But the pair were spared prosecution, and fined just £400 each, as well as costs of £1,100 and a victim’s surcharge of £40.