Fly-tipping continues to afflict communities across the UK, with Bond Rees experiencing an eye-watering 42% increase in fly tipping investigations requests in just the last six months. There has been a surge in requests for investigations in the last six months, as reported by Bond Rees. Several local councils, private businesses, sports clubs, farmers and community groups have reached out to us as victims of this environmental crime.
A Growing National Problem
Government figures paint a troubling picture. Nationwide fly-tipping incidents surged by 2024% nationwide in 16, with local councils recording more than 1.2 million incidents. It also costs taxpayers more than £375 million each year to clean it up, adding to the already stretched pockets of local authorities.
Why Is Fly-Tipping on the Rise?
Several factors appear to be driving this alarming trend.
A number of amenity tips have enforced limits on commercial vehicles, creating unintended barriers to legitimate waste disposal. Many of these amenity tips are disallowing commercial vehicles which has caused hindrance in waste deposits.
Many rubbish tips have banned commercial vehicles, creating an unwitting barrier to lawful disposal of waste. Such bans certainly prevent abuse of public amenities but have created perverse outcomes.
What’s more alarming is that a lot of unlicensed “man with a van” operators are advertising for cash the clearing of waste. The cowboy traders who do not have any waste carrier licence or disposal permit leave the collected waste in the countryside, vacant land or industrial estate.
The True Cost of Fly-Tipping
Illegal rubbish dumping affects more than just the unpleasant sight. Toxic waste tossed away without permission harms the ground and water, endangers animals and people, and spreads disease. Individual landowners also feel the brunt of the impact. They are fully liable for clearance costs, which can run into the hundreds or thousands of pounds.
The community’s well-being, although unable to be measured, has also been affected. In places where people dump their waste a lot, the value of properties goes down. Also, areas feel more criminal and messy. If untreated, these effects can result in faster neighbourhood decline.
Fighting Back with Technology and Expertise
We have expanded our environmental investigation capabilities at Bond Rees to tackle this growing crisis. Our specialised surveillance techniques (like using hidden cameras to catch flytippers, are very effective at identifying offenders and obtaining evidence for prosecutions. With the help of landowners, local authorities and community groups we are deploying covert cameras at known fly-tipping hotspots to catch fly-tippers.
Aaron Bond, our lead investigator, presents the facts: “The immediate costs of removing fly-tipped materials runs into thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of pounds. However, this pales into insignificance compared to the potential damage to the land and the cleanliness of local communities after just a few days. The environment is also affected and we’ll be working with our clients to tackle the issue, both through prevention as well as prosecution.”
A Collective Response
We are working all the time with our clients to address with this issue. If we join hands – enforcement officials, council, private estate owners and everyone else will help turn the tide.
If you’ve been affected by fly-tipping or want to find out more about preventing it, call our environmental investigations team for a confidential chat.
Bond Rees is a top private investigations agency that offers professional, discreet, thorough and effective investigative services to corporate and private clients in the UK and Thailand.
