Basingstoke Council Find Error That Decreases Fly-Tipping Numbers Drastically

A recent discovery has caused the amount of fly-tipping cases recorded in the Basingstoke area, to dramatically decrease. Basingstoke council discovered an error in their methods for recording fly-tipping.

Fly-tipping is defined as “illegal dumping of liquid or solid waste on land or in water. The waste is usually dumped to avoid disposal costs”. In 2020/2021, there we a total of 1.13 million reported cases of fly-tipping across England.

In 2018/2019 the numbers showed 2,520 cases of fly-tipping in the Basingstoke area, which dramatically spiked to 4,107 during 2019/2020.  The most recent numbers have shown 2,935 reported cases in 2020/2021. Meaning there was an approximate 29% decrease in cases within this area.

The council have since confirmed that the substantial changes within statistics are caused by a methodical error in the way they were calculating numbers.

Basingstoke Council’s Cabinet Member for Recycling, Waste and Regulatory Services Cllr Hayley Eachus reported the following:

“It was determined that during this period some of our teams had incorrectly recorded side waste left out for grey bin collections as fly-tipping. Additional rubbish bags must not be left by the side of grey bins by residents. The only exception is where a bin has been missed and this is agreed between our waste and recycling team and the household.”

She goes on to explain that since finding the error they have successfully been able to resolve the issue and rectify the mistake. As well as informing members of the borough that the removal of said waste was the households responsibility.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated “We continue to take fly-tipping in the borough very seriously and have a zero-tolerance approach, successfully achieving 39 prosecutions since May 2018.”

Fly-tipping causes a variety of issues, not only is it an ugly site, it poses a threat to wildlife and the environment. The majority of the waste that is thrown by fly-tippers is not biodegradable, not only is that an issue for the environment but it also causes health problems for the wildlife in the surrounding areas. In addition to that, people fly-tipping asbestos and other toxic substances will also be putting other people at risk.

If you have a large amount of waste, please don’t fly-tip to avoid the costs. Why not try skip hire in Basingstoke, we will drop it off and collect it when it is convenient for you. We also offer quick delivery and the cheapest prices in Basingstoke.