The latest fly-tipping statistics from Defra show an increase in illegal dumping of waste, most of which is from households, and an astonishing number of enforcement actions carried out in 2018-19.
According to the report, in the 12 months ending March 2019, there were:
- Over a million fly-tipping incidents, up 8% year-on-year.
- A 2% increase in incidents involving household waste, to 62% of all cases.
- Nearly half a million enforcement actions carried out, up 1%.
Of those enforcement actions, 15% involved fixed penalty notices, an 11% increase over the previous year to 76,000 penalties issued in total.
More than 2,000 people were fined for illegal fly-tipping, with the total value of those fines up by nearly 30% over the previous year to a staggering £1,090,000.
A million pound problem
It’s really hard to overstate the potential impact on your family finances if a ‘man with a van’ dumps your household waste by the roadside, on a public footpath or down a back alley.
Often the first sign you’ll have that something is wrong is when a utility bill or envelope with your name and address is found among fly-tipped waste and you get that knock at the door.
If you didn’t take enough precautions to find out where your waste would be taken, you could still be liable for it as if you had fly-tipped it yourself.
That’s why it’s essential to work with a reputable skip hire provider who can make sure you get all the paperwork you need to prove that you have disposed of your waste responsibly.
Household waste Duty of Care
Your responsibility to dispose of household waste correctly falls under the Duty of Care, which applies to all residences and businesses alike.
For domestic waste there are some exemptions, but it’s still important to get a Waste Transfer Notice when you hire someone to take away your household rubbish beyond your regular wheelie bin collections.
This is especially true if you’re having any work done on your property. If you have a tradesperson like a plumber, plasterer, electrician or carpenter do any work for you, any waste materials they leave behind are commercial waste.
Because of this, you need to be aware of the full commercial waste Duty of Care and hire a skip suitable for waste materials generated through business activities rather than regular domestic waste.
Skip it, don’t tip it
We have a range of skips for hire in different sizes and suitable for domestic and commercial waste alike, so please contact us if you have any questions about the right skip for the job.
Of course we dispose of all waste correctly, but our commitment goes beyond that, with a long-term goal to send zero waste to landfill.
That means when you dispose of household waste using J Dickinson & Sons skip hire, you not only get the paperwork you need, but you also get peace of mind that you are doing everything you can to minimise the impact of your waste on the environment.
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