Incidents of fly-tipping increased across the UK by 20% last year, but South Derbyshire has bucked this trend and incidents decreased by 3% in 2013/14. This is the seventh consecutive year that incidents have reduced in the District.
However, even one incident is one too many. The Councils Clean Team try to ensure the swift removal of fly-tipped waste to prevent it being added to. Our Safer Neighbourhood Wardens investigate incidents to track down those responsible as well as using surveillance cameras and warning signs at fly-tipping hot-spots to tackle the problem.
But the problem will continue if residents and businesses are not alert to the risks of illegal waste operators. Council officers have come across a number of recent incidents where residents have been approached by people claiming to be legitimate waste carriers with an offer to remove waste on the cheap. After the money has been paid and the waste taken away it has then been fly-tipped and when the incidents have then been investigated, officers have traced the waste back to the householder who have not got a record of who took their waste. In these cases the householders have broken the law by not making sure that their waste has been taken by a legitimate operator.
To stop this happening, environmental regulators give the following advice:
- Never accept an offer from someone you don’t know to dispose of waste for payment.
If you are approached then pass details onto the Councils Safer Neighbourhood Wardens (01283 595765) who can investigate if they are a registered waste carrier. To carry out a search they need to know the name of the business or individual who approached you and the registration number of their vehicle.