What is Fly Tipping?
Fly Tipping is the 'illegal dumping of waste, items or materials'.
This can include a workman disposing of materials and waste on public land, or the leaving of furniture on a pavement for others to reuse.
You can also be guilty of the offence if you hand another person your waste and they dispose of it incorrectly - the law requires that you take all reasonable steps to avoid the offence happening which includes making sure that a workman at your property has a licence to dispose of the waste.
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What does the law say?
There are a number of different statutes that cover the offence of Fly Tipping but the main offences are under Section 33 & 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Section 33.
Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act creates the following offence:
A person shall not deposit controlled waste or knowingly cause or knowingly permit controlled waste to be deposited on any land unless the deposit is in accordance with the licence.
It is a defence under Section 33(7) to prove that you:
● took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence, or● the acts were done in an emergency in order to avoid danger to human health and that all reasonable steps were taken to minimise pollution of the environment and harm to human health, and ● the acts were reported to the waste regulation authority as soon as reasonably practicable after they were done.
Section 34.
Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 imposes a duty of care on any person who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste or has control of such waste to:
● prevent contravention of the waste disposal laws by any other person,
● to prevent the escape of waste.
Section 34(2A) imposes a duty of the occupier of any domestic property to take all such steps as are reasonable to secure that any transfer by him of household waste produced on the property is only to an authorised person or to an authorised person for transportation purposes.
What is the penalty for Fly Tipping?
The courts usually impose a financial penalty for minor offences but more serious offences (such as repeated offences, large amounts or dangerous waste) can be sentenced by a term of imprisonment.
For further expert advice and assistance relating to Fly Tipping Offences, or any Local Authority investigation or prosecution, contact Lucinda Dore Solicitors for a free telephone consultation about your case by completing the online enquiry form below.