Currently, volumes of fly-tipped waste cost taxpayers £150,000 a year in clean-up services the council says. This week the authority launched its “Beware the Waste Cowboys” campaign outside the City Hall, where four tonnes of waste appeared on August 8 in a bid to capture public attention on the issue.
It was later revealed to residents that the waste had been placed by the council to highlight the amount of material that council workers clear from the city’s streets.
The aim of the display was to remind residents that they are responsible for disposing of their waste correctly and could face fines if waste is deposited illegally by unregistered carriers.
“No excuse”
Michael Michael, Cabinet Member for Clean Streets, Recycling and Environment said: “We are currently collecting 20 tonnes of fly-tipped material across the city per week – that’s the size of three Tyrannosaurus Rex – and it is costing the taxpayer.
“There is no excuse for fly-tipping. Cardiff council offers a wide range of services to help residents and businesses dispose of their waste correctly, including two large recycling centres, bulky waste collections, garden waste recycling, glass recycling, food waste recycling, green bag recycling, hygiene collections and skip hire.
“Residents need to know that disposal of one tonne of waste at a landfill site, or at an energy from waste facility, costs approximately £80 per tonne. So, if someone offers to collect waste from your home for less, then alarm bells should ring. If it sounds too good to be true, trust me it is, which means your waste is probably going to be dumped on Cardiff’s streets by dodgy traders.”
The Council has issued 171 fixed penalty notices for fly tipping offences since November 2018 and is promising to crack down on those responsible. In order to aid enforcement, residents are being asked to report any fly tipping activity via the Cardiff Government App – which has geo-tagging technology – or the council’s website.
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