Countryside is not a free-for-all tip

Fly-tipping at Lobden

Christmas is a time of year that can often see households accumulate increased amounts of waste and residents are being urged to dispose of their rubbish responsibly.

Latest government statistics show there were more than one million fly-tipping incidents in 2018/19 on public land – with nearly two-thirds of those involving household waste.

Locally, there were 5,218 instances of fly-tipping, 40% of which were reported on highways. A further 16% of fly-tipping incidents were reported on footpath and bridleways, 24% on back alleyways, and 17% on council land.

The majority of waste dumped in the Rochdale borough were black bin bags from households, or other household waste.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/131448/rochdale-has-second-highest-number-of-flytipping-incidents-in-greater-manchester

The Country Land and Business Association North Director, Dorothy Fairburn said: “Christmas is a time when households can have an increased amount of waste with boxes, old and broken toys and appliances, and an increase in general waste as people host friends and family.

“In many cases there can often be changes in local authority bin collection days too which can lead to an accumulation of waste over the festive period.”

“We urge everyone to dispose of their rubbish responsibly by checking when their local recycling centre is open and taking it there.

“If you have to dispose of a large amount of rubbish, we recommend you only use a waste removal service that can provide evidence of a Waste Carriers Licence. This can avoid it being taken away by unscrupulous operators and dumped in the countryside.

“In 2020 the CLA will continue to call for greater penalties for those people that are caught fly-tipping and changes to an unjust system whereby private landowners are having to pick up the bill for waste that is illegally dumped on their land.”