Stories about fly tipping have become a regular feature on national media recently, as the blatant disregard for the environment, public health and safety, and seemingly increasing scale of the sites being used for dumping demand increasing attention to the problem. Construction waste isn’t all that gets dumped but is at the heart of the problem, as an appeal from Hampshire County Council for information about waste dumped on an A31 junction as we went to press proves. This illegal waste disposal includes roofing materials, asbestos and corrugated iron, almost certainly of construction origin.
Apart from the damage done to the image of the construction industry, more important is the threat to health of any passers by or nearby residents from having asbestos waste randomly spread about the open air in their communities. It is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 but this is not proving to be a sufficient deterrent as the problem rose 9% between 2023 and 2024 alone, according to government figures. Some 20% of waste is now estimated to be illegally managed which costs the English economy alone some £1,000 million a year.
Various enforcement bodies can be involved in tackling fly tipping and criticism about the regulatory response often centres on the lack of coordination between them. The gaps between the enforcement bodies are big enough to allow suspected organised crime entry to the racket. Sites can cost up to £500,000 to clear, and the rewards for a crime that can often go undetected for months after the criminals have fled are obviously substantial.
The regulations and laws to combat the problem exist but the effectiveness of enforcement is often criticised. The government hopes that a new approach including a mandatory digital waste tracking system to improve oversight of movements of waste along with reforms to the waste carrier, waste broker and dealer regime will help.
Sceptics might look at the digital waste tracking system as an attempt to jump on the digital and AI bandwagon, but it is only a part of a wider, just announced Waste Crime Action Plan that aims to improve prevention and enforcement. It promises to tighten rules around carriers, dealers and brokers to close loopholes that criminals can exploit. Digital waste tracking is to improve accountability. Local authorities and regulators will be given powers and tools they need to take more decisive and early action against illegal tipping.
The Environment Agency is to be given ‘police-style powers’. Drones will be used to map illegal waste sites and to gather evidence for prosecutions. What does all this mean for construction? Ignorance of the law or of where carriers take their waste will increasingly be disregarded as an excuse for doing business with fly tippers.
Companies already have an obligation to ensure that their waste is lawfully managed, and it is clear that this will be increasingly strictly enforced. Fly tippers will be named and shamed, making them struggle to find banks and other financial organisations to work with them. This could easily extend back along the waste chain to the contractors and others involved in producing waste. Major construction players already make strenuous efforts to ensure their waste is properly dealt with. The wider industry has to make sure it steps up to the mark or get ready for an increasingly uncomfortable future.
Nick Barrett
Editor