Keep Britain Tidy warns rogue waste collectors are worsening fly-tipping

Keep Britain Tidy has warned that rogue waste collectors are making fly-tipping worse, as councils try to trace offenders and householders are urged to check who takes their rubbish away.

In Bristol, enforcement officers and a news team saw fly-tipping happen in broad daylight on the edge of the city. Two men in a small van dumped what looked like building waste by the side of the road. They were gone in 60 seconds. About 40 minutes later they returned with a three-piece suite. It took barely a minute to leave it behind. The site also contained picture frames, trolleys, an old mattress and a very large TV. Some of the waste could have been reused if it had gone to the right place.

Another site in Bristol acts like a magnet for rubbish. If the council does not clear it, more waste is dumped there. A big part of the problem is people responding to adverts for cheap rubbish removal. They do not check what happens to the waste after it leaves their home. Around half of people in the country have used private individuals to get rid of waste, according to Keep Britain Tidy. They buy a new mattress or sofa, or have bags of rubbish, and want it gone quickly. They look online and find someone who says they can take it away. Many do not carry out checks, so rogue traders operate in the space. These traders advertise online, take money, and do not dispose of waste properly.

Keep Britain Tidy says some operators use low prices and slick online adverts to attract customers before dumping rubbish illegally. The group does not want people to be scammed or communities to end up blighted by waste.

The cost is significant. Local authorities in England alone spend almost 20 million pounds of public money every year clearing up after fly-tippers. The problem is not limited to one city. Reporters gathered numbers from 156 people advertising on different Facebook and social media groups across the country who said they could take waste away. They contacted them and asked about a double mattress: how much it would cost, when it could be collected, whether they had a waste carrier licence, and whether they would provide a receipt. Eight in ten of those contacted did not supply that information.

In Bristol, the city council's Waste Enforcement team searches through bags for clues to work out where waste came from and, crucially, who left it. Officers look for anything with a name and address, or an invoice. In one case, the team found letters and other identification with names and addresses that did not appear to be from the local area. That suggested a large fly-tip had been brought to the site from elsewhere.

Householders can be fined hundreds of pounds if their waste is dumped illegally. For the rogue traders who take rubbish and dump it, fines are much higher and vehicles can be seized and crushed.

There is a simple way to check that rubbish is being dealt with legally. People should check the collector's name, company name and address, and confirm they have a permit to take waste. When waste is taken away, the collector should leave a transfer note explaining where it is going, where it will be deposited and how much was charged. Anyone taking rubbish away must be registered with the Environment Agency. The registration can be checked online or by telephone. Genuine waste carriers should not object if a customer takes a picture of their vehicle, notes the registration and photographs them loading the van. Without those checks, a householder can face a £400 fine for breaking their duty of care. If people do not verify who is taking their rubbish, it may end up costing them in more ways than one.