Check ‘chuckers’ – stop fly-tippers
SEFTON Council had to spend almost £400,000 in the past year clearing up after flytippers.
From 2016-17, there were 3,469 incidents of fly-tipping in the borough, according to new figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The total cost of clearing was £398,948.
But only £220 was paid in fines for the incidents.
Fly-tipping is the illegal deposit of waste on land, and both local authorities and the Environment Agency have a responsibility to collect and report on illegally deposited waste.
Sefton Council is urging residents to remember their duty of care when getting rid of household waste.
Many residents hire third parties to take household waste and large bulky items from their home, but most do not know the rules and regulations that cover these types of waste disposal.
By law, individuals are required to make sure that the firm removing their waste is authorised to do so and is registered with the Environment Agency as an official waste carrier.
It is also vital to retain the name and address of the person or firm disposing of waste.
In three recent cases in South Sefton, residents have fallen foul of rogue waste collectors who have simply dumped their waste as fly-tipping around the borough.
If dumped waste is traced back to a particular property, the householder could be fined up to £5,000 if they cannot properly identify who they used to get rid of their waste.
Cllr Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s cabinet member for regulation and compliance, said: “Recently we have experienced issues with members of the public not complying with their legal responsibilities to ensure any waste they produce is removed by a registered carrier.
“This can be from the local paper, social media or shop noticeboard, but the responsibility is with the household to check they are legitimate first before they employ them.
“Too many residents are employing people to take waste away which is then being fly-tipped in the borough.
“Householders are required to make a simple check with the Environment Agency in order to ascertain if the person that they are passing their waste to is a registered waste carrier.”
Around the country, there were more than one million incidents of flytipping recorded in 201617 – which was up from 936,000 the year before.
Clearing the incidents of fly-tipping cost almost £58m.
For more information about waste disposal, visit www.sefton.gov.uk/binsrecycling.