Disposing of Waste and combatting Flytippers

From today – 1st April – 2019, a scale of charges has taken effect for non-household waste at Buckinghamshire’s recycling centres.

In answer to the two main questions – “what is non-household waste?” and “how much will I be charged?”, the graphic below will provide part of the answer, and for a detailed ‘price list’ you can view Full list of non-household waste charges on Bucks CC’s website. Bucks CC maintains that at least 75% of the waste brought to its sites remains free.

Changes in Bucks CC’s waste disposal and recycling arrangements, involving new charges, one closure and some reductions in opening hours, have inevitably raised questions about whether this will encourage greater fly tipping.

Bucks CC cites examples from neighbours Hertfordshire and Surrey, and from its own experience, suggesting that charges and reduced hours don’t have to lead to increased fly tipping, and we must hope that this is so. Nonetheless, it’s an opportunity to remind ourselves that we can play a part through vigilance and reporting of fly tipping.

Fly Tipping – how we can fight back

Reporting Fly Tipping: Fly tipping can be reported to Bucks CC through ‘Fix My Street’: https://www.fixmystreet.buckscc.gov.uk/

Witness someone #flytipping in #Buckinghamshire? Pls report it at https://t.co/Rq872XkQcW
In priority order, we will want –
*Vehicle Reg
*Date, time, location
*Description vehicle+driver
Great if you can SAFELY take photo of vehicle but not necessary…
Let's #SCRAPflytipping pic.twitter.com/X8czjxv5ZB

— IllegalDumpingCosts (@BucksFlyTipping) December 10, 2018

There are several reasons to make a report. First, Bucks CC has a good record on successful prosecution: on average more than one fly-tipper is caught and convicted every week in Buckinghamshire. Since the launch of The Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire campaign against fly-tipping – ‘Illegal Dumping Costs’ – in 2003, fly-tipping across the county has more than halved. You can follow the progress of this initiative through Illegal Dumping Costs’ Twitter feed.

Secondly, where rubbish is allowed to lie uncleared, it attracts more fly-tipping, exacerbating the problem. So residents are encouraged to report promptly.

And the costs of clearing flytipping are expensive, falling on council taxpayers.

Remove or dispose of your own waste responsibly: Bucks CC operates household recycling centres in 9 locations. Within Chiltern, these are at Chesham (Latimer Road HP5 1TL, open 5 days a week, closed Wednesdays & Thursdays), and at Amersham (open 7 days a week, London Road East HP7 9DT).

Bucks CC also offers a bulky waste collection service for larger items or kerbside waste and recycling centres for things like glass, paper and plastic bottles.

Check the status of contractors removing your waste: Everyone has a legal ‘duty of care’ to ensure their household or business waste is disposed of correctly. If you fail to do this, you can be prosecuted even if your waste is fly tipped by someone else on your behalf.

If you're a sole trader or small business owner you've got a responsibility to dispose of commercial waste properly. These old freezers from a takeaway restaurant were dumped and the owners ended up in court as they hadn't used a registered waste carrier https://t.co/mcaCQG8oVp pic.twitter.com/WXTUf7Q1Yz

— Bucks County Council (@buckscc) March 21, 2019

Bucks CC’s S.C.R.A.P. campaign (‘Suspect-Check-Refuse-Ask-Paperwork’) sets out checks that householders and businesses can make to ensure that they are compliant.

You can find a registered waste carrier, or check the status of a carrier, in your area on the Environment Agency’s website.