Fly-tipping across England reaches record high | Waste

Fly-tipping incidents across England have reached the highest level since current records began, with the majority of offences continuing to involve household waste.

In 2024-25, 1.26m fly-tipping incidents were recorded by local authorities, an increase of 9% on the 1.15m reported in the year before, according to data released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on Wednesday.

This data does not include the 98 incidents of large-scale, illegal dumping dealt with by the Environment Agency, or those cleared by private landowners.

“These figures show the equivalent of 142 monster landfills a day took place,” said Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for environment, food and rural affairs.

Despite a rise in fly-tipping, the data also reveals that the number of court fines decreased over the last year, from 1,378 down to 1,250, with only 0.2% of incidents resulting in any court action. Furthermore, only 139 offending vehicles were seized over the past year.

In response to the figures, the government released fresh guidance for local authorities advising on how to seize and crush vehicles used in fly-tipping offences, and suggesting criminals should be “named and shamed” by councils on social media.

Almost two out of three incidents, a total of 777,000, involved household waste, an increase of 13% from the 688,000 incidents reported in 2023-24. This includes material from house clearances, old furniture, carpets and the waste from small-scale DIY projects.

The majority of incidents occurred on pavements and roads, accounting for 37% of fly-tipping.

Incidents equivalent to the size of a “small van load” made up 31% of the total, while the second most common were those equating to the size of a “car boot or less”, at 27%.

One in 20 incidents were of “tipper lorry load”-size or greater, an increase of 11% compared with the previous year. The cost of clearing this rubbish was £19.3m, a £6.2m increase on 2023-24.

John Read, the founder of the campaign group Clean Up Britain, said: “Today’s fly-tipping stats are further evidence of the national epidemic we’re facing in England, and indeed the whole of the UK.

“To be effective, we have to create real jeopardy and fear in the minds of fly-tippers. The cost – and risk – of ‘doing business’ has to become too exorbitant for them.”

The circular economy minister, Mary Creagh, said: “We are empowering local authorities to clamp down on waste cowboys and restore pride in our local areas.

“Fly-tippers should know – if you use your van to trash our countryside, don’t be surprised when it ends up on the scrapheap.”

Gavin Lane, the president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said: “It’s not just litter blotting the landscape, but tonnes of household and commercial waste which can often be hazardous – even including asbestos and chemicals – endangering wildlife, livestock, crops and the environment.”