Axing recycling bins ‘helped cut fly-tipping’
COUNCIL ENVIRONMENT BOSSES SAY INCIDENTS ARE DOWN BY 40 PER CENT
AXING public recycling bins has helped cut fly-tipping by nearly 40 per cent in South Derbyshire, environment bosses claim.
The amount of rubbish dumped in the South Derbyshire countryside from 2020 to 2021 led to it being one of the worst years on record, with 1,003 incidents recorded.
However, in 2021 to 2022, this fell to 605 incidents – and South Derbyshire District Council says fly-tipping incidents dropped when it removed recycling bins from its car parks.
A spokesperson for the council said: “There has also been a noticeable reduction in fly-tipping incidents since October 2021, which is when the council implemented the decision to remove the remaining recycling bins from its car parks.
“The decision was taken due to the high levels of contamination of the material deposited and antisocial behaviour experienced at the sites.
“In addition, the sites were attracting inappropriate waste being left in close proximity to them.”
During the last year, the council’s community safety enforcement team has issued 21 fixed penalty notices of £400 each for waste and fly-tipping offences. The team has also issued 45 fixed penalty notices for the lesser offence of littering.
The figures came as the council’s environment and development services committee will hear its corporate plan report, which says: “2020/21 was one of the worst years on record for fly-tipping, and spring 2021 started badly with continued high numbers of reports.
“However, the community safety enforcement team identified a handful of individuals who were suspected of being responsible for multiple offences, and as the investigations into their activities progressed, the number of incidents started to sharply drop. Prosecution proceedings are ongoing in a number of cases.
“Following community consultations, the council also removed seven recycling bin sites in late summer 2021.
“Between October 2021 and February 2022, the numbers of reported fly-tips were the lowest on record for this time of year.”