Since the UK government allowed local authorities to charge the users of amenity waste tips fees, there has been an increase in fly tipping throughout the country. Surrey County Council operates nine amenity tips and is charging four pounds per tyre deposited there. There are other charges for building and construction waste from DIY projects. The result is an increase in fly tipping across the county. This is being repeated in every council area in England and Wales.
The £4 per tyre deposited is punitive, and in theory should drive consumers to recycle their tyres responsibly through the retailer where they bought their replacement tyres from. However, the reality is that some people will try and avoid the recycling fee at the retailer and they will try and dispose of tyres themselves. If they can’t dispose of them at the tip, they will inevitably end up in hedges, ditches, canals and woodlands. The change in the law is having the unintended but foreseeable consequence of increased fly tipping – without the resources to deal with flytippers being implemented.
In Kirklees, west Yorkshire, a spokesperson for the council denied that there was any increase in fly tipping. When told that farmers were simply burying waste dumped on their land the response was that those farmers should be prosecuted for not disposing of the waste legally. When asked why the council had introduced restrictions at its community waste tips, the spokesperson responded that it was in accordance with government guidelines.
