Page last updated at 09:33 GMT, Friday, February 26 2010
Litter
Litter can be as small as a sweet wrapper, as
large as a bag of rubbish, or it can mean lots of items scattered
about. ENCAMS (an environmental charity who campaign directly to
the public) describes litter as waste in the wrong place caused by
human agency. In other words, it is only people that make litter.
The offence of 'Leaving Litter' (section 87 of the Environmental
Protection Act 1990; Article 3 of the Litter (NI) Order 1994) says
that if a person drops, throws, deposits or leaves anything so as
to cause defacement in a public place, they could be committing a
littering offence.
About £342 million a year is spent by local
authorities in England on street cleaning and litter clearance,
with the most common types of litter being cigarette ends, followed
by sweet wrappers and matchsticks. An estimated 122 tonnes of
cigarette stubs, matchsticks and cigarette related litter is
dropped every day across the UK.
In a Local Environmental Quality Survey
carried out by ENCAMS in 2002, cigarette related litter was found
in 77% of all locations surveyed and confectionery related litter
such as sweet wrappers was found in 53% of locations. Drinks
related litter such as cans and bottles were found in 31% of all
locations.
Litter picking is carried out continuously
throughout the Borough, with busy areas such as routes to
school, town and parish shopping centres being visited daily and
all litter removed. We will deal with heavy accumulations of
litter within 5 working days of receiving a report or
complaint.
Litter bins
The Council has provided 750 litterbins
throughout the Borough. Our target is to empty all bins
before they are full or overflowing. If we receive a report
regarding a full/overflowing bin, we will empty within one working
day.
Damaged bins will be made safe within 2 working days, and
replaced as soon as possible thereafter.
Fly-tipping/illegally dumped waste
Fly-tipping is the 'illegal deposit of any
waste onto land i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a site with no
licence to accept it.
- During 2008/2009 there were 626 incidents of of fly-tipping
costing £30,722.
- The most common types of fly-tipped waste are household waste,
large domestic items such as mattresses and fridges, garden waste
and industrial waste.
- Only holders of waste management licences can recover,
transport, deposit or dispose of waste.
- The majority of offenders fly-tip to avoid paying the landfill
tax (the charge that has to be paid to dispose of waste
legally).
- The environment agency investigates the larger scale incidents
of fly-tipping, hazardous waste and those involving organised gangs
of fly-tippers while local authorities are responsible for clearing
up fly-tipping on publicly owned land including roads and
lay-bys.
- It can take between four to six weeks to remove fly-tipped
waste depending on the legal process involved if the waste is
hazardous. The relevant agency will deal with the problem within 24
hours. For high risk waste, the response is likely to be within the
hour.
The Council will remove illegally dumped
rubbish from the public highway or Council owned land within 2
working days. For larger accumulations, the Council
will work with the Environment Agency to arrange for the
removal of the waste. The removal of fly-tipping from
private land is the owner's responsibility however; we will
provide advice on its removal.
Fly-tipping is an offence under the
Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Refuse Disposal (Amenity)
Act 1978 and various Highways Acts
Fly-tipping fines can be up to £20,000 and/or six
months' imprisonment.
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