Calls for fly-tipping action

Calls for fly-tipping action

The North West has the second biggest number of fly-tippers outside of London new figures reveal.

Union GMB has called for increased investment in waste and recycling centres after a new study showed almost 820,000 incidents of fly tipping in the past year.

The new report paints a picture of fly tipping crimes across the North West submitted by local authorities to the Environment Agency.

The region has a total of just over 118,000 cases for 2010-11 was 7,043 down on the previous year, but was still costing councils and private landowners a huge amount of money to clear up, said the union.

Water supply and treatment firm United Utilities, one of the biggest private landowners in the county, spends millions of pounds every year clearing dumped rubbished from around their reservoirs, parks and water catchment land.

The water firm recently launched a hunt for a fly tipper in Burnley after hazardous asbestos was dumped near the Singing Ringing Tree site, a popular beauty spot overlooking the town.

United Utilities spokesperson Shaun Robinson said: "Ultimately it is water bill payers who foot the bill to clear fly-tipping on water catchment land.

"We are cracking down through partnerships with local police and councils who all have a vested interest in protecting our natural environment.

"This is money which would be better spent improving networks and local infrastructure for public use, not removing fly-tipping”

39 councils reported incidents in the annual survey and according to the Environment Agency it costs £100-150 million a year to clean up.

Paul McCarthy, GMB Regional Secretary, said "Not only is fly-tipping illegal but it is damaging to the environment and according to the Environment Agency it costs £100-150m per annum to clean up.

"Two thirds of fly tipping involves household rubbish and GMB believes it would make good economic sense to invest in more municipal waste and recycling centres to make it easier and cheaper for the public to dispose of waste properly.

"However local authorities also need to target fly-tipping to improve their policing of the problem – out of 820,000 incidents last year there were only 2,500 prosecutions throughout England and Wales.

"Secretary of State Eric Pickles should lead a campaign to clamp down on fly-tipping while allowing councils extra money to invest in better waste facilities.”

North West in 2010/11 reported 118,032 fly tipping incidents. This made it the second highest in England. It was followed by Yorkshire and the Humber with 102,574 incidents, South East with 70,745 incidents, East or England with 68,977 incidents, North East with 64,745 incidents, East Midlands with 57,195 incidents, West Midlands with 53,236 incidents and South West with 37,741 incidents.