Why do people fly tip?

Fly-tipping is described as: “The illegal deposit of any waste onto land, i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a site with no license to accept waste.” It can be hazardous to the public and animals and it costs you as a taxpayer to clear it up.

The cost to landowners and the taxpayer of fly-tipping is in the region of £150 million per annum. Both Local Authorities and the Environment Agency are responsible for tackling fly-tipping.

Reports of fly-tipping incidents should be made to your local authority (telephone number in the phone directory) or to the Environment Agency on their 24-hour hotline number: 0800 807060

I understand why the rogue tradesman might dump rubbish in private and public places: to avoid paying a fee at the local landfill or waste reclamation site. What I don’t understand is why a person living in a house that backs onto a forest, will dump their garden rubbish over their back fence. I know that everyone living next to a forest, right of way, or common ground does not do this, but there are those who do. I have seen it many times, as I roam around the countryside; even when the local waste reclamation site is just around the corner.

People who dump their garden rubbish over their back fence probably feel that it will eventually rot down and disappear. What they don’t seem to understand is that many people regard garden waste deposited on public and private land as an eyesore. The fact that the land they are dumping on is owned by someone else doesn’t seem to bother them, nor deter them. It would be a different matter, though, if the land owner started dumping rubbish in a private person’s garden; they would soon kick-up a fuss about that. The normal detritus of modern living spread liberally around our open spaces is bad enough, without the additional burden of huge amounts of tree and bush trimmings blocking the paths during the summer months. What gets me is that some people dump their rubbish, openly, in broad daylight, as if this gives fly tipping some level of social acceptability, as if to say: “At least I am dumping my rubbish in this wood in broad daylight; I can’t be accused of skulking around in the middle of the night doing it.”

Laziness, expense, or lack of time – the latter reason sometimes being used in an attempt to disguise plain laziness - are often the reasons for fly tipping, whether they be commercial or residential culprits.

Fly-tippers must have a mind set in which “out of sight is out of mind” is predominant. The problem is that their dumped rubbish doesn’t go away, unless someone else removes it. I wonder if such people have the same attitude to their finances, or to paying their parking fines?