Fly-Tipping

Fly-Tippers

A varied range of fly-tippers can be established. A significant majority, around three-quarters in the United Kingdom, of all the material dumped is identified as domestic waste, and the presumption is that individual householders dump general domestic waste and unwanted items that they are not willing—or able—to dispose of in other ways. Fly-tippers also include small businesses that illegally tip in order to circumvent official, highly legislated, and costly methods and sites of disposal. Larger business fly-tippers comes in two varieties: those who simply illegally dump larger quantities of their own material, such as building waste and hazardous chemicals, and those operators who make money by illegally dumping waste collected from third parties. Such third parties may or may not know that the waste they pay to have removed ends up illegally disposed of.

Composition and Purposes

While the majority of the material dumped is domestic waste, what is surprising is that over half of this constituent comprises plastic sacks containing general household waste, which is the kind of waste that would also be disposed of via municipal waste collection. That it is dumped instead brings to attention various waste collection issues that remain unresolved for many householders. These include both lower levels of domestic waste collection than that of waste generation and a lack of proper disposal facilities such as local recycling points. The next most common items comprising fly-tipped domestic waste include old mattresses, broken refrigerators, washing machines, and vehicle tires. While much of the motivation for such illegal dumping may well be based on ignorance, convenience, or the avoidance of specific charges related to the disposal of such items, this material too draws attention to some oft-noted issues, which may be seen with some sympathy. These include limited opening hours at civic amenity sites, the strictly enforced banning of vans at those sites, and unaffordable charges for bulky, dangerous, and specific items of refuse collection. While much fly-tipped waste may occur as the result of actions designed to avoid charges for trade waste collection or to avoid paying landfill taxes, this is not necessarily the case for much dumped domestic waste.

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