Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

Who's spoiling your view?

Doncaster Council has been campaigning against fly-tipping and fly-tippers. Many locations in both rural and urban areas are spoilt by the detrimental effects of fly-tipping. Help us in our fight against fly-tipping by reporting offenders or instances of illegal dumping to the hotline on (01302) 736050 or via e-mail to customer.services@doncaster.gov.uk

The aim of operation fly tipper is to target illegal fly tipping. A special dedicated team has been set up to run alongside the Mayor's FLAG initiative. This is one of several similar initiatives that are directly contributing to achieving a cleaner, safer and tidier neighbourhood. Fly tipping is a criminal act.

It is our aim to stop this environmental crime that impacts on the beauty of our area by:

• Investigating all instances of fly tipping.
• Seeking legal advice and prosecutions or fixed penalty notices in all cases where evidence is found.                                    

Fly-tipping, sometimes referred to as "dumping", is when an individual or organisation knowingly deposits their waste onto land without permission or an appropriate licence to do so. Fly-tipping can range from a single item, e.g. a carrier bag or bin liner, to multiple loads weighing many tonnes.

Further information on how to dispose of unwanted items can be found by clicking on to the links on the left-hand menu "Related Links".

Is litter regarded as fly-tipping?

No, small items, e.g. crisp packets, sweet wrappers and cigarette ends, thrown away by individuals on public or private land are usually referred to as littering rather than fly-tipping.

It is still a form of anti-social behaviour and contravenes Sections 87 and 88 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If individuals are seen dropping litter they can be served with a Fixed Penalty of £75.00

Why should the public be concerned about fly-tipping?

Fly-tipping can blight communities, it can create a snowball effect and attract more and more waste.  Uncontrolled waste can be hazardous to the public and in some cases may be a serious health and safety risk. Fly-tipped waste can spoil the environment by:

• contaminating watercourses 
• affecting the quality of underlying soil
• damaging wildlife                                   

Clearing up fly-tipped rubbish increases costs for the taxpayer, diverts resources from other services and can discourage new investment in the area.

Is fly-tipping illegal?

Yes, fly-tipping is illegal. If convicted fly-tippers could be fined up to £50,000 and/or receive a five year imprisonment sentence. 

Waste in the UK is controlled by a licence which imposes a duty to ensure all waste is disposed of in a conventional and safe manner. Waste should only be deposited, retrieved or transported by registered waste carriers.

There are several pieces of legislation relating to fly-tipping in England the main ones are:

• Environmental Protection Act 1990 - Sections 33,34,59,79 and 80
• Refuse Disposal Amenity Act 1978 - Section (2) (1) (B)
• Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 - Section 4                                  

Why do people fly-tip their waste?

The majority of people who fly-tip do this to avoid paying Landfill Tax charges associated with rubbish. This tax is imposed on all waste to cover the cost of it being processed or disposed of in the safest manner.  

Costs for household waste disposed of in the dustbin or wheelie bin or taken to the Household Waste Recycling Centre are covered through the payment of Council Tax.

 A typical charge for disposing of waste is currently £48.00 per tonne.

Where do people fly-tip their waste?

Generally fly-tippers are opportunists who will deposit their waste at any location where they will not be seen easily. Common places are rural lanes, lay-bys, wooded areas or entrances to commercial premises.

What type of waste or material is most commonly fly-tipped?

Based on information recorded by Doncaster Council over the last twelve months the most common types of fly-tipped waste in order of largest amount of waste are:

• Builder's waste - rubble, plaster & window frames
• Bulky Household Items - furniture, beds & soft furnishings
• Domestic appliances - fridges, washers, freezers
• Household Refuse - food waste, packaging
• Garden Waste - tree cuttings, grass cuttings
• Tyres
• Asbestos
• Gas Bottles
• Bikes, pushchair's, prams & garden toys                                

Who fly-tips their waste?

Historically a large amount of fly-tipped waste has been made up of single items e.g. a bin liner or carrier bag, a car boot load or a transit van load.

Statistics show that trends are now changing and large amounts of waste are being discarded in one incident. This is mainly due to the potential cost savings by perpetrators and the use of larger vehicles up to 20 tonnes.  

In some cases of organised environmental crime in excess of 100 tonnes, equivalent to £3800.00 of waste can be deposited in a remote spot over a period of a few days by one or more vehicle carrying waste from a specific site or location.  

These incidents are well planned and coordinated by the beneficiaries and you can imagine that the cost savings for such action could be seen as both tempting and lucrative.      

What steps have Doncaster Council taken to reduce fly-tipping in Doncaster?

Doncaster Customer Service Team has been running an anti-fly tipping campaign since April 2004. The key aims of the campaign are:

• To raise the profile of fly-tipping
• To empower the public to remain vigilant and report any fly-tipping incidents that are witnessed
• To send a clear message to "would be" or hardened fly-tippers that Doncaster Council and its residents are Zero tolerant to fly-tipping and, if witnessed, legal action will be pursued
• To monitor and proactively manage known "hot-spot" areas, anticipate potential new sites that fly-tippers could use and apply appropriate preventative measures.                                 

To enable Customer Services to achieve these aims several initiatives have been launched and dedicated resource has been committed to the fly-tipping campaign.

Proactive Measures to reduce fly-tipping include:

• 500 fly-tipping signs offering a stark warning to "would-be" fly-tippers have been sited around Doncaster. They also promotes the FLAG hotline 01302 736050 encouraging people to call with information relating to acts of fly-tipping
• Covert and overt surveillance equipment has been purchased and appropriate training provided to enable operations to identify fly-tippers to take place
• 137 "Hotspot" locations have been identified which are managed and monitored on a day-to-day basis by local delivery teams. Initially 212 locations were identified but they have been reduced due to proactive action
• Vehicle access to known "Hotspots" has been blocked or restricted where possible
• Promotional leaflets and posters offering information about fly-tipping and the action that the public should follow if they witness an incident have been distributed throughout the Borough
• Statistical information collected by Cutomer Services is now fed into a national database which is monitored by the Government and Environment Agency. This will help to influence appropriate changes to legislation that will further reduce and deter fly-tipping                                   

Tell us:

• Where it is
• What it is
• Roughly how much it is                                  

and FLAG will clear it.

Report it to us:

Online report form