Illegal rubbish dumped 'every 35 seconds'

Rubbish is illegally dumped somewhere in England every 35 seconds – and it is costing authorities almost £100 a minute to clear it up, new research has shown.

The information came from Flycapture, a national fly-tipping database established by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and local authorities. The database has enabled the government to compile a comprehensive national picture of the problems caused by fly-tipping.

Flycapture's research found that almost 28,000 fridges, freezers and washing machines were illegally dumped between July and December 2004. Other goods that were regularly fly-tipped included household and garden rubbish and leftover material from construction, demolition and home improvements. Flycapture found that areas where fly-tippers were most likely to dump rubbish included council land, back alleyways, country paths and by the roadside.

Speaking at a conference today Environment Minister Elliot Morley said: "Fly-tipping is a serious environmental crime that will not be tolerated. We recognised it was an increasing problem but fortunately, with the kind of information we now have on Flycapture, we can see what is being dumped, where it is being dumped, how often and how much it is costing local authorities to clear up. We can then use that to target our resources more effectively, improve our intelligence on the ground, and help track fly-tippers both within, and between, counties as part of our commitment to tackling anti-social behaviour."

Barabara Young, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said that Flycapture had helped highlight how serious a problem fly-tipping was. She said: "Fly-tipping is a big problem that affects a lot of people. The figures show that every day there are 40 incidents involving multiple lorry-loads of waste being illegally dumped."

Ms Young said that Flycapture's information would be used to target and catch those who persisted in dumping illegally.

(KMcA/SP)