Fly-tipping households are costing us £1m each week
ALMOST 500 bags of household rubbish are illegally dumped every day, costing taxpayers almost £1million a week to clear up.
Figures show there were 172,407 cases last year where household rubbish in black bin bags had been fly-tipped.
The number of incidents dealt with by councils in England has risen slightly on the previous 12 months and it is a two per cent increase on five years ago.
It is thought some of the tally may be from householders who forget to leave their rubbish out and then are left with a two-week pile of waste before the binmen return.
In other cases, householders are allowed to fill up one wheelie-bin and then dump any overflow rubbish
by the side of the street, hoping the council will clear it away.
In recent years the collection of household rubbish has become increasingly complex as councils attempt to recycle more.
Collections of normal household waste have also been reduced in many areas and now the vast majority of councils have fortnightly collections with some taking normal rubbish even less frequently.
Some people have complained these infrequent collections lead to mountains of smelly rubbish which attract insects and rodents.
Councils say they have brought in recycling schemes to compensate for fewer rubbish collections as the nation attempts to reach a 50 per cent household rubbish recycling rate.
Last year 41 people were jailed for fly-tipping while 2,671 individuals were issued with £1.2million worth of fines for their offences.
Cllr David Renard, environment spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: “Fly-tipping is inexcusable. It is not only an eyesore for residents, but a serious public health risk, creating pollution and attracting rats and vermin. It also costs taxpayers almost £50million a year to clear up.”
Richard Mcilwain, deputy chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “The current level of fly-tipping across the country is little short of a national disgrace.
“It’s critical we support households to reduce the amount of waste they produce and to recycle more, to avoid the need for dumping of additional rubbish.”
Figures from Defra have revealed Labour councils are the worst areas in the country for overall flytipping,tories say.
Camden council was worst, with more than 34,000 incidents in 2019/20. London as a whole was the worst region with more than 360,000 incidents last year.