To not understand why fly tipping is happening on such a large scale?

Where I live we have to book a slot, I don't mind that because it means you don't have to queue. But the opening hours are short - 8-4. That's probably ok in the winter months but it should be 7-7 in the summer.

Some people are just toe-rags and dump stuff everywhere. See also litter - it's shocking how bad it is.

But councils are also to blame with ridiculous policies. Tips are closed, have reduced opening hours, don't accept certain things, won't let people in on foot or by bike, there are long queues to get in, and if you live in a border area you find yourself having to drive miles to a tip because the two councils are too stupid to work together.

With all that going on, it's not surprising that people get lazy.

Also, I don't think it's fly-tipping if you eg go to a book bank and it's full so you leave your bag of books on top of it or beside it. It would be fly tipping if you left an old arm chair next to it. But for me it's not fly-tipping if the bin isn't emptied when it should be.

We need a national strategy for waste - I think there is one of sorts but it doesn't address issues like border areas.

Well, I cannot speak too highly of Tameside's recycling centre at Stalybridge. Open every day except Christmas Day and New Year's Day, very helpful, no appointment necessary...

Councils have a legal duty to dispose of domestic waste

I am starting to wonder if there might be some cases where legal action may be appropriate eg tip opening times or the requirement to book

Mattresses are the devil, if the shop you are buying from don't recycle them or the council don't collect for ages, recyclers like Clearabea cost over £100 so that's probably why people use a man with a van.

Of course you can I'm sure a lot of people pay waste collection services not knowing they will fly tip

Another king , if you book a bulky refuse collection with the council it can be taking 3 weeks for them to to collect. Yet if you leave it outside you are fly tipping.

What's the solution?

We couldn't have easily got a king size mattress into our large car, you would need a van, fortunately JL took it so we didn't even have to take it downstairs, it was very heavy. We can generally get white goods and furniture in the car if we take it apart a bit.

Can you fit a king size bed and mattress in your car? And what. if you don't have a car

They have closed three tips in our area. Everyone has to travel to another town that can’t cope with the increased numbers.

We now have to book a time slot and you have to wait weeks for a weekend slot.

Most people seem to be using ‘Man with a Van’ to take it away for them. Most of these aren’t licensed so just dump it in fields, forests lanes etc 😡😢

The black bins here are emptied once every 3 weeks. The nearest tip is 15 miles away and it is only open 9-3 Friday Sat sun and you have a book a slot online to get in.

When we all moved in we ordered black bins (new estate) I ordered ours 6 weeks before we moved. Many people didn’t realise this and arrived to move in and no bins and the council saying it was a 6-8 week wait for bins. We discovered some fly tipping shortly afterwards and bagged it up and returned it (had address) on the person was a single parent with baby and no car - I can totally sympathise with 12 bags of rubbish why she fly tipped some. Wasn’t the right thing to do but could see why

It's not that simple OP.

I live within 3 miles of a tip which I pass every day, only I'm not allowed to use it. My allocated tip is 17 miles away so a 34 mile round trip. If I want to go, I have to make an appt. I work full time so the only times I can go are Saturday & Sunday mornings. All the apps are booked for months. So effectively I don't have access to a tip unless I borrow the car & ID of someone who is allowed to use the local tip.
Plenty of people in the same situation would think that a reasonable excuse to fly tip.
I burn most of my excess cardboard but there are plenty on MN who think I shouldn't do that.

It was disgusting so not any use to anyone ( left behind by previous tenant)

The dump here you have to make an appointment and often they’re booked up weeks in advance

We are limited to 3 bag bags every 3 weeks so often people exceed this

So a combination of a small allowance for waste and difficult getting a dump appointment

Could u put it on freecycle or the like?

Maybe they should've spent £90,000 making the recycling centres fit for purpose.

with a skip how do you stop other people dumping in it, I can bet that would happen where I live.

interesting they won’t take certain things

last time I used one was around 2005 and it cost £60 I think

What’s the issue with plasterboard you think?

Our council, in it’s wisdom, has stopped both free collection of bulky items for LA residents and paid collection, which used to be £30-50 for up to 3 things like sofas/beds for homeowners.
The LA flats where my Sister lives now looks like a landfill site, they removed the cctv when the flats had new roofs and never replaced the cameras.
I contacted a few waste firms on fb recently and asked to see their licence after they quoted very cheaply, none replied.
A skip now costs £200+ and there are very strict rules on what you can put in them - no plasterboard, paint cans, hard plastics like planters.
It’s all very well saying go to the tip,
not with a bloody big sofa or mattress you can’t.

I was once in Budapest when this was happening, it was great fun! I had a good couple of days sitting on the balcony watching people poke through the stuff and then it was gone!

Same in Hungary. It has quite a party atmosphere as everyone has a good poke around everyone else’s junk.

Absolutely spot on.

Unfortunately, though, our public policy makers tend to pay scant regard to basic human psychology when setting policies and procedures.

Ultimately people generally take the path of least resistance. If you make it easy for them to do the right thing. On balance the majority will do it. I
The harder you make something, the more barriers in place, more it costs etc, then the fewer people will do what you want.

What the councils are doing is short sighted and not remotely cost effective. Yep it might save a few pennies very short term but it is costing them a lot more now.

I'm rural and there is a huge amount of fly tipping, in lanes, in farmers' gateways etc. I don't condone it in the slightest, but I can understand why people do it to a certain extent.

The nearest tip is 30 miles away and is open 4 days a week. That means a 60 mile round trip in your car with a limited number of bags. No vans, no trailers allowed. The council gave us a really small bin. It's emptied fortnightly. If you want to get rid of something like a fridge or a sofa then it costs you money. People are skint. People are arseholes.

It's not surprising that a lot of people just dump shit wherever they can.