New figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show councils across London will spend £29 million cleaning up fly-tipping in 2023, with costs in Ealing rising to £869,265. It was revealed.
Across England, councils spend £82,688,203 every year on fly-tipping removal and enforcement, but only around one in 500 incidents result in criminal prosecution.
Every year, local authorities report to Defra the number of fly-tipping incidents they have suffered, the cost of the damage, and what action they have taken. LoveJunk, an online marketplace for waste removal, analyzes data from Defra to examine how much councils are spending to solve this problem and what could be done better. Did.
LoveJunk founder Jason Mohr said: “The current system of fines and prosecutions is not working. Fly tossing rates remain largely unchanged, fly tossing perpetrators are unlikely to be caught and punished, and the public cost of removal and enforcement is significant. The only way to quickly stop the fly-tipping is to ban cash payments for waste collection and require all waste collectors to show a photo ID and waste transport permit before picking up. ”
A spokesperson for Ealing Council told EALING.NEWS: “Defra specifically provides data on the number of enforcement actions, investigations and prosecutions for fly-tipping offences, but does not collect data on fines paid. ” he said.
“In 2022/23, we issued 5,192 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for fly dumping, making us the second best borough in the country when it comes to measures against litter and fly dumping. .
“In terms of fines paid, 57% of fly-throwing FPNs and 63% of littering FPNs were paid within two months. We follow up unpaid notices through court proceedings.”
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