New powers for councils to tackle illegal waste dumping

Defra said the ability for local authorities to remove abandoned cars from the streets immediately, removing the need for a 24-hour notice before a vehicle can be towed away, will help to reduce the risk of arson.

” From today, offenders themselves will foot the bill.“
– Margaret Beckett
New powers for councils come into force today under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act. They also include more effective investigatory powers to catch fly-tippers, while landowners and occupiers who have had to clear fly-tipped waste can also recover clearance costs.

It is thought that fly-tipping could be costing upwards of 100 million a year to deal with, although the new national fly-tipping database – Flycapture – puts the cost of recorded incidents in 2004/05 at 44 million.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, said today: “From today, offenders themselves will foot the bill: under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, local authorities and the Environment Agency will now be able to make the polluters pay for the mess they have made, as well as the costs of tracking down the culprits.”

More powers
In June, Defra announced the first raft of measures from the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, which included fines of up to 50,000 and five years in prison for those found guilty of fly-tipping. More powers are set to come into force next April.

Mrs Beckett explained: “In April next year we will be introducing on-the-spot fines to ensure we combat the smaller, but equally problematic, fly-tips. Almost all local authorities have a variety of collection services in place, so there really is no excuse for discarding black sacks and other rubbish in the street.”

Environment Agency chief executive, Barbara Young, welcomed the latest powers to help catch the 'waste cheats':

“Fly-tipping is the work of those with no regard for public health or the environment. But with the help of these new powers we will be able to work more closely than ever with the local authorities and really take the fight to these waste cheats. The message is clear: if you fly-tip, we are coming after you.”