Generally speaking fly tipping is ‘the illegal deposit of any waste onto land i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a site with no license to accept waste’. If the fly tipping is on a “highway maintained at the public expense” (a road or right of way), it is the responsibility (duty) of the waste collection authority (District or Borough Council / Unitary Authority) to remove it.
Public Rights of Way are public highways maintainable at public expense and are recorded on the Definitive Map and Statement (a legal record of Public Rights of Way). If it is on any other land, it is the landowners’ responsibility to remove it although local authorities have the power to remove it. Landowners can ask the Local Authority to remove and dispose of the waste. Local Authorities do not need to be registered as carriers of waste. They can collect and remove any form of fly tipped waste on request. A fee will be charged.
An offence is committed if a person has deposited/knowingly caused/knowingly permitted the deposit of controlled waste. ‘Controlled waste’ means household, industrial or commercial waste. If the waste was carried in and deposited from a motor vehicle, the person controlling the use of the vehicle, or who is in a position to do so, is treated as knowingly causing the waste to be deposited, whether or not any instructions were given to that effect. Section 33 Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA)
The Environment Agency or the waste collection authority may serve a notice on the occupier requiring him to remove the waste and/or eliminate or reduce the consequences of the deposit. This provision applies where there has been a breach of section 33. Environmental Protection Act 1990 – section 59
The deliberate abandonment of any matter on land in the open air or on any other land forming part of a highway is an offence, punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. (Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 – section 2). Local authorities have a POWER to remove articles other than vehicles abandoned without lawful authority on any land in the open air. Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 – section 6
There is a maximum fine of £20,000 and up to six months imprisonment if convicted in a Magistrate Court or an unlimited fine and up to two years imprisonment if convicted at a Crown Court.
In general, the Environment Agency investigates the larger scale incidents of fly-tipping, incidents involving hazardous waste and incidents involving organised gangs of fly-tippers. Local authorities tackle clear-up of fly-tipping on publicly owned land, including roads and lay-bys. The Environment Agency and the Local Government Association (LGA) have agreed a protocol that sets out the types of fly-tipping that local authorities and the Environment Agency respond to. This protocol is currently under review, and a revised version is expected early in 2004. View this response matrix and detailed guidance at: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/waste/ and then click on fly tipping guidance.
