Fly-tipping incidents increased by 6% for the 2023-24 year, rising to 1.15 million from the 1.08 million reported in 2022-23.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has released statistics on fly-tipping incidents recorded by Local Authorities in England between April 2023 to March 2024.
Defra also announced it will no longer publish local authority fly-tipping enforcement league tables, which were introduced under the previous government.
According to the statistics, 688,000 fly-tipping incidents involved household waste in 2023-24, a 5% increase on reported incidents in 2022-23.
The most common place for fly-tipping to occur was on highways, which includes pavements and roads, accounting for 37% of total incidents in 2023/24.
However, the number of highway incidents in 2023-24 decreased by 1% to 427,000 from 433,000 in 2022-23.
The most common size category for fly-tipping incidents in 2023/24 was equivalent to a “small van load” (31% of total incidents), followed by the equivalent of a “car boot or less” (28%).
In 2023/24, 47,000 or around 4% of total incidents were of a “tipper lorry load” size or larger, which is an increase of 11% from 42,000 in 2022/23.
For these large fly-tipping incidents, the cost of clearance to local authorities in England in 2023/24 was £13.1 million.
Local authorities carried out 528,000 enforcement actions in 2023/24, which was a slight decrease from the 530,000 in 2022/23.
The number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued was 63,000 in 2023/24, a decrease of 5% from 67,000 in 2022/23. FPNs were the second most common action after investigations and accounted for 12% of all actions in 2023/24.
The total number of court fines decreased by 8% from 1,491 in 2022/23 to 1,378 in 2023/24, with the combined value of these fines decreasing by 7% from £785,000 to £730,000.
Defra reminded local authorities to not report FPNs issued solely for littering, which it said may have contributed to the reduction in the total number of FPNs reported by some local authorities.
The data is based on incidents and actions reported by local authorities through WasteDataFlow.
Defra urged caution when interpreting year-on-year changes due to high numbers of incidents being reported as “other unidentified” for land type and waste type in 2023/24.
Fly-tipping statistics are a “tragedy”
Reacting to the statistics, Dan Cooke, Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs at CIWM, said: “Each and every one of these incidents causes misery to local communities and directly damages local environments and economies.
“Fly-tipping is waste crime. We applaud those local authorities and their partners taking concerted action.
“Effective enforcement needs greater resourcing, including for improved information and awareness, and a coordinated effort by relevant agencies to reduce and minimise the risk of further escalation.
“CIWM will continue to work with partners to provide training and share best practice in driving towards maintaining high standards and responsible waste management, and to highlight how we can all play a part by being vigilant against the scourge of the fly-tippers and the environmental, social and economic damage they cause.”
Cllr Adam Hug, environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association, called fly-tipping “inexcusable”.
“It (fly-tipping) is not only an eyesore for residents, but a serious public health risk, creating pollution and attracting rats and other vermin,” Hug said. “Councils are working tirelessly to counter the thousands of incidents every year and are determined to crack down on the problem.
“However, penalties handed down from prosecution fail to match the severity of the offence committed. We continue to urge the government to review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping so that offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences to act as a deterrent.
“Manufacturers should also contribute to the costs to councils of clear up, by providing more take-back services so people can hand in sofas, old furniture and mattresses when they buy new ones.”
Each and every one of these incidents causes misery to local communities and directly damages local environments and economies.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, called the statistics a “tragedy” and said the 6% increase in incidents is “frightening and shameful”.
She said: “Fly-tipping is costing each and every one of us; the increasing sums needed to clean up the mess that’s wrecking both the environment and communities where it significantly contributes to people feeling ‘left behind’.
“We must tackle the crisis in our broken waste system with national product take-back schemes, a complete reform of the waste carrier license scheme and much tougher sanctions on those criminals who are coming to people’s doors, profiting from ignorance and dumping waste wherever they fancy.”
David Gudgeon, Head of External Affairs at Reconomy Connect, a brand by Reconomy, the international circular economy specialist, called the data “staggering” and said it underlines the “severe economic harm” of fly-tipping.
“The fact that household waste accounts for so much of this clearly demonstrates the need for greater public education on how and where people can safely dispose of waste and the importance of doing so,” Gudgeon said.
“There also needs to be a greater focus on fines and enforcement action to create better deterrents and a change in societal thinking to acknowledge the negative impact fly-tipping has on all of us.”
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