Four in ten (42%) householders in Wales do not know they have a legal responsibility to check if a business removing rubbish from their home has a licence.
The research was carried out by Fly-tipping Action Wales. Householders are being warned that they could be fined and prosecuted if rubbish taken from their home ends up as fly-tipping.
You can check with Natural Resources Wales that the person or business you are using has an official waste carrier licence. If a waste enforcement officer traces fly-tipped rubbish back to your home you risk a fine of up to £5,000 and prosecution. Local councils in Wales can give you a £300 fixed penalty notice as an alternative to being prosecuted.
Check if the business has a waste carrier licence
You check if a waste carrier has a licence through the Natural Resources Wales website.
Get a receipt
Fly-tipping Action Wales recommends that people ask where their rubbish is going, get a receipt from the company and record details of the vehicle involved, including the make, model and registration number.
Warning about ‘Facebook fly-tippers’
‘Facebook fly-tippers’ pose as legitimate waste removal businesses on social media, including Facebook community groups and advertise household rubbish removal for a low cost.
These illegal operators are known to dump waste illegally and put the householder at risk of being fined, or even prosecuted.
Neil Harrison, team leader at Fly-tipping Action Wales, said: “Approximately 33,000 fly-tipping incidents are recorded in Wales every twelve months, which is the equivalent to 90 incidents a day, or four offences every hour.
“Of these incidents, more than 70% contain household waste — but it doesn’t have to be this way.
“As householders, if we all make a promise to check that we are using a registered waste carrier when arranging excess rubbish removal from our homes, not only will this protect against unwanted fines, but more importantly, it will help to protect our natural environment against the detrimental impacts of fly-tipping”.
Fly-tipping Action Wales also encourages people to reduce the amount of waste they have to dispose of by using services such as Freecycle, donating unwanted items to local charities and looking into the free and paid services your local council has available.
Police officer, Eryl Lloyd, added: “Unfortunately, social media continues to be a tool that is used for targeting online users with scams and misleading information.
“In this instance, please be wary of fly-tippers disguising themselves as legitimate waste removal operators. These individuals will take your hard-earned money and make profit from blighting Wales’s countryside with your household rubbish — while putting you at risk of committing duty of care offences”.
Sign a pledge
To encourage Wales’s residents to learn more about their household waste duty of care responsibility, Fly-tipping Action Wales is inviting members of the public to sign a free pledge on their website.
It’s part of their ‘It’s Your Duty To Care’ campaign, which exists to help increase awareness around householder Waste Duty of Care responsibility in Wales.
Each signature will represent a promise to Wales to help protect its natural environment against fly-tipping.