County-wide campaign launched to reduce incidents and impact of fly tipping.
Local councils are being supported by Essex County Council, the Environment Agency and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to jointly tackle fly tipping.
Fly tipping is the illegal dumping of waste on land which doesn’t have a waste licence. This could include leaving items by a bin or outside a closed charity shop, recycling centre or donation bank.
Household waste has been found in over 60% of fly tips across the county in the past three years, costing Essex taxpayers around £1 million to clean up in 2022-23. Most reported fly tips also occur on highways or council land.
A new campaign launched today (28 January) will run for three months to equip residents with the knowledge and tools to dispose of household waste responsibly.
The participating councils will also work closely to increase visible enforcement and share intelligence across the county.
The Leader of Brentwood Borough Council and Chair of the Clean and Green Committee, Councillor Barry Aspinell said, "Fly tipping is a crime that damages the environment and drains public resources. In Brentwood, we are committed to tackling this issue head-on by working collaboratively with the Police and others across Essex to strengthen enforcement, while ensuring residents dispose their waste responsibly, as they should do. This campaign informs and empowers residents to act, ensuring those who dump waste illegally are held accountable. I urge all residents to do their part to report fly tipping when they see it and dispose of waste properly. Together, we can make Brentwood cleaner, greener and free from fly tipping.”
Essex residents can visit www.loveessex.org/flytipping to find out more about fly tipping and the new campaign.
Notes to editors:
- This is an Essex Waste Partnership joint campaign between: Basildon Borough Council, Braintree District Council, Brentwood Borough Council, Chelmsford City Council, Colchester City Council, Epping Forest District Council, Essex County Council, Harlow Council, Maldon District Council, Rochford District Council, Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, and the Environment Agency
- The campaign is using the SCRAP Fly Tipping identity originally created by Hertfordshire Waste Partnership
- Residents are always encouraged to report fly tipping to their local council
- The SCRAP campaign will inform and equip residents with the information and tools to make the right decisions when disposing of waste
- The SCRAP campaign will be supported with proactive and visible enforcement measures by participating councils
- We have not identified any direct links between the introduction of the booking process at recycling centres and recorded incidents of fly tipping
- The Essex Waste Partnership, comprises the twelves district, borough and city councils in Essex together with Essex County Council
- The Waste Strategy for Essex 2024-2054 commits the Essex Waste Partnership to collaborating and innovating to work together to reduce incidents of fly tipping