Enfield Council Asks Residents to Help Them Tackle Illegal Waste Dumping

Enfield Council Asks Residents to Help Them Tackle Illegal Waste Dumping

Enfield Council has launched a campaign called ‘Report it; Check it; Do it’ which aims to tackle the problem of the illegal dumping of rubbish.

What the council is asking residents to do

• Report incidents of fly-tipping or littering online via their website.
• Make sure they dispose of rubbish correctly by always putting household waste in their black bin, putting recyclables in their bin with the blue lid, and putting green waste in the bin with the green lid.
• Recycle card, paper, glass jars, plastic tubs, bottles, and tins, and always rinse them before they recycle.
• Take other types of waste to their local recycling centre, and donate furniture, white goods, and bulky items to charity, who usually pick them up for free.

Council events

The council held a ‘Give and Take Day’ on February 11 so people could exchange household goods they no longer wanted, and on February 24, A ‘Swish and Style’ clothes swapping event is planned.

What is swishing?

Swishing involves swapping unwanted clothing, shoes, or accessories with others so it’s a fun way of updating your wardrobe, free of charge. Swishing does not only have to be about clothing; book and furniture swishing events are also now becoming popular. You can have swishing parties or there are now swishing websites springing up online.

Dumping waste is costly

Clearing up illegally dumped rubbish costs taxpayers in Enfield £800,000 per year. The council’s cabinet member for the environment said that their street cleansing teams work hard to keep the area clean, but a minority of irresponsible people dump rubbish with no regard for others.

The council have had to cut costs recently, like many other local authorities, as a result of funding cuts imposed by the government. Since 2010, they have had to cut £161 million from their budget, and they still have to cut a further £35 million to hit their target.

The council are keen to remind people that they will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who dumps waste illegally, as the £800,000 they spend annually clearing it up could be spend on vital public services.