Fly-tipping rise signals need for regulation overhaul

摘要

Fly-tipping is one of the most common environmental crimes that not only endangers the environment, but has social, economic and health consequences, too. So it is all the more worrying that illegal dumping is on the rise and that it continues to offer criminals a low-risk, high-reward source of income. Regulating against this behaviour and prosecuting offenders is challenging and, coupled with relatively low penalties even when an offender is convicted, makes fly-tipping an attractive proposition for criminals. Recent figures released by Defra show that England alone fell victim to nearly a million fly-tipping incidents in 2019/20 -an increase of two per cent on the previous year. Of these, 65 per cent involved household waste, which equates to a seven per cent rise year on year.