Huge 75-tonne mountain of waste near river cleared
A 75-TONNE fly-tip has been cleared up less than half a mile from Uxbridge town centre.
Mountains of waste had been dumped in fields off Rverside Way, near the River Colne.
The vast fly-tip was cleared over the weekend after it was reported by a business using an app called Litta.
Among the items tipped in the field were mattresses, rubble and building supplies, furniture and garden fences, as well as garden waste.
Countless black bin bags were also thrown on top of the piles of wood and other flammable material, posing a safety risk to the businesses around Riverside Way.
The app allows people to report fly-tipping in their area, along with pictures and a brief description of the waste to their local council, which will then arrange for its clearance.
The clearance is carried out by licensed waste carriers, which prevents the issues of further fly-tipping. Culprits often target the green belt around London and in neighbouring counties.
Since the lockdown led to the closure of many of the council-run recycling centres, the Countryside Allowance reported a 300% increase in fly-tipping in some parts of the country.
One of the reasons behind the increase was identified as the increase in household DIY projects, although even before the pandemic the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed annual fly-tipping reports were 50% higher in 2019 than in 2013.
Aaron Georgiou, founder and CEO of Litta, said: “Fly-tipping has been a prevalent issue in much of the UK for a long time. Sadly, the lockdown measures imposed over the past two months have made matters even worse, with incidents on the rise and some areas completely swamped by people’s illegally dumped waste.
“We need quicker, easier ways of reporting incidents – that is why we have created our fly-tipping alert system, which allows a report to be filed in just 60 seconds.
“As a long-term solution, it is important that more education is provided around fly-tipping, its impact on the environment and local communities, and how people can ensure their waste is disposed of legally.”