How Can You Deter Fly-tippers

How Can You Deter Fly-tippers?

A man in Stoke has been fined over £1200 in court after he dumped 9 bags, a sofa, and some cardboard in an alleyway in the Normacot area of the city. The man failed to cooperate with investigators after they identified him, so he was prosecuted and convicted in his absence.

One of the council’s investigating officers said that they invited him to an interview to help with their investigation and he refused on 2 occasions, so they had no choice but to prosecute him.

They added that everyone has a responsibility to make sure that their waste is disposed of correctly, and that if people dump waste illegally, they can expect a zero-tolerance approach from the council.

Residents’ association welcomes the move

The chairman of the local residents’ association said that the more prosecutions that the council carries out for fly-tipping, the better and they welcome the tough fines as a deterrent.

What is being done about fly-tipping?

Councils in England spend more than £67 million cleaning up waste that people have illegally dumped; from sofas, to mattresses and fridges. There are around 1 million incidents of fly-tipping every year, and local authorities have had enough. They are considering new ways to get tough on offenders and deter further incidents. Here’s what some councils have been doing to tackle the problem.

Big Brother is watching you

 In South Derbyshire, the council are using mobile surveillance cameras to catch offenders in the act, and it appears to be working. One man was fined over £1,000 after he was caught on camera dumping a dishwasher into a ditch.

A council representative said that the cameras appear to be a good deterrent, and they’ve prosecuted 4 people successfully in the past year. The council has also recorded a considerable reduction in fly-tipping incidents.

Rhonda Cynon Taff Council in south Wales has wardens on the streets who are equipped with cameras that catch people dropping litter. The footage is then posted online for everyone to see. 

The Trees are watching

Artwork produced by children in the Forest of Dean makes people feel like they are being watched.  50 models of children’s faces are attached to trees across 16 different sites as part of the so-called "Communitrees" project, which hopes to deter people from dropping litter in the forest. The inspiration came from a project called 10,000 eyes in Rotterdam, where eyes were painted on buildings and in alleys as a way to tackle crime. The project has led to a reduction in littering according to early indications.

Naming and shaming people publicly

A woman in Croydon was named in a council ‘hall of shame’ for dropping a cigarette butt. She was handed an on the spot fine but refused to pay and was prosecuted as a result. Her name appeared online along with 100 other people who were prosecuted for littering or fly-tipping by the council. The woman said she is embarrassed and devastated by the idea that if her children were to search for her name on Google, the hall of shame would come up.