New campaign to curb fly-tipping
Teignbridge has a new campaign to help curb fly-tipping and is telling people to ‘check who you pay to take it away’.
Paying someone can seem like the easiest and quickest way to get rid of rubbish, but if you’re not checking out the legitimacy of who takes it away, there’s a big chance it’ll be fly-tipped, and you’re the one who could be fined.
Fly tipping is illegal. It’s dangerous, unsightly and harmful to the environment and affects the quality of life for many residents. In 2016/2017 Teignbridge collected around 500 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish from 939 incidents reported into the council. Those who are dumping waste are draining public money as council staff need to react to clear it up. This costs the taxpayer an estimated £57,000 in the district council carrying out its enforcement duties and cleaning up the mess.
There are a lot of people offering waste collection services on social media who claim to be legitimate but you shouldn’t take anything at face value.
The main idea of the new campaign is to highlight the dangers of choosing someone other than a licensed waste carrier to dispose of unwanted items and prevent you from running the risk of prosecution or heavy fines as a consequence.
To highlight the matter, Teignbridge is holding a roadshow on Teignmouth Den on Saturday, May 26 from 10am – 3pm.
There are some simple checks and enquiries about the people you employ that could prevent unnecessary fly-tipping.
They include:
checking they’ve got a waste carrier’s licence (this is issued by the Environment Agency)
asking where your rubbish is being taken
making a note of the registration number of the vehicle used to take your rubbish away
if you see any flytipping, report it to Teignbridge District Council.
Legitimate and responsible waste businesses will be happy to give you all the information you want about how and where your waste will be disposed of.
Cllr Kevin Lake, Teignbridge District Council’s Executive member for Environment Services, said:
“Flytipping is a blight on our environment and costs taxpayers money to deal with. It’s really important that people take steps to check the credentials of those who are being paid to take waste away or you could end up being fined or, worse still, with a criminal record. This is because, by law, your rubbish is your responsibility. It costs nothing to check and could save you a great deal of unnecessary worry.
“We recognise that fly-tipping is a serious and important matter to our residents and we will also always try and find out who was responsible so we can prosecute.”
Ask for a waste carrier number and contact the Environment Agency directly on 03708 506 506 for a free instant waste carrier check. Check on-line at https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers
For advice on how to correctly dispose of bulky waste, visit teignbridge.gov.uk/wastecarrier
For more advice on fly-tipping or to report an incident of fly-tipping please visit teignbridge.gov.uk/flytipping
If you have garden waste you wish to dispose of, please visit teignbridge.gov.uk/gardenwaste
