I now understand fly tippers - rant warning!

[aiwblam]

Previously, I would have said that fly tippers were simply scummy people who did not care about the environment or community. Having been to our local tip this morning, I now understand why people fly tip and I think we are going to see astronomical levels of it.

I went to the tip to dispose of a 10yo computer and monitor, some assorted metal bits and pieces (mainly from broken stuff, but I was trying to keep the metal out of landfill to, you know, save the environment) and a sheet of wood which we used to use as a dog guard. Nothing difficult, standard stuff that people dispose of.

Our tip is open under "emergency" usage. This has been the case since covid. Apparently residents are supposed to just "store" their litter and only visit the tip if they can't. Well, we were tripping over this stuff on our narrow landing and with kids, dog and us so I decided to tip it.

I queued for 90 mins. Upon entering the hallowed gates, you are interrogated by the Gestapo. You are directed to a bay in which you must park, regardless of what kind of stuff you have to dump and the relevant bin being at the other end of the tip. Several of the bins are pay bins, ferociously guarded. A woman stepped out of a line to recycle some plastic and was screamed at.

The asbestos bin is a pay bin, along with about 6 others. Council, you fucking idiots. People are bagging asbestos up and dumping it in the free "non recyclable" bin. In fact, anything that belongs in a pay bin is being bagged up and dumped in non recyclable. Not by me, but it's pretty bloody obvious what's going on. The pay bins look so clean and empty. The tip opens short hours and is closed Weds and Thurs. 17,000 people live in the catchment area of this tip.

Our landfill bins are collected fortnightly and woe betide anyone who has their bin open even a bloody crack. Our recycling is supposed to be weekly but they often leave behind one category, which we are again instructed to "store".

This is what happens when councils hand over a functioning council tip to a private company who cut costs in any way they can. Closures, hour cuts, pay bins.

This is an area with a lot of woodland around. People go to the woods at night and tip the contents of their vehicle out into the woods. Now I know why and I don't even think they are particularly bad people. I think they are people who are doing it out of necessity as there is no reasonable way to get rid of their litter. I was out for a total of 2 hours. Who can afford to waste time like that? I needed the bloody toilet and got pins and needles in my leg.

Why can't councils see why stuff is fly tipped everywhere? Ours is whining about spending record amounts to clean it up. Erm...do you not see cause and effect?

End of rant

I've been saying this for a long time.
I mean, I wouldn't fly tip, but you can understand why people do.
The Councils make it incredibly difficult for people to dispose of their rubbish at the tip, and then spend £££ on clearing up areas where people dump stuff they can't get rid of. Yet don't see the correlation

Since COVID, our tip has moved to booking appointments and it is SOOOOOOO much better than the queue for hours, blocking the local roads system.

OP is your council totally 'Woke' and creating cycle lanes that are never used?
Remember it at next council election.

I don’t get the logic of keeping it out of landfill at all costs, surely it’s just as damaging to the environment shoved behind someone’s shed, for example. It doesn’t cease to exist or suddenly become useful just because it’s not in landfill.

Our local tip is so bad I often go to work with a car full of stuff and stop at that tip on my way home.

@BarbaraofSeville

Treating everyone with plaster board as if they are a tradesman is bonkers

It's vans here. If you have a van, you are a trader dumping building waste according to our council. DP has driven a van as transport on and off over the years because he can get his bikes and stuff in it, but we've never been allowed to use it to dispose of our house and garden waste because of the 'if it's a van, you must be dumping trade waste' rule which means you have to go to the special trade tip and pay £££s.

Meanwhile all the actual builders attach a trailer to the back of their DWs car and get rid of a lot of their business waste that way .

Yes this. My husband had this very argument this morning as he has a pickup as his car. They wanted proof that it was household waste, one of the items was a cardboard box that a car seat came in, then they wanted proof that it was his. The car seat was in the car but that wasn't enough apparently neither was the order email that he had on his phone. In the end the manager was called and agreed that DH could tip but only after he kicked up a fuss.

Ours is good, book a slot, turn up on time and there's little or no queue. You have to pay to dispose of asbestos or rubble but that's to be expected.

Lots of areas have been charging for garden waste collection for years (the last three areas we have lived in all have charged for this) so was surprised when my parents started complaining about this being introduced recently - they are the same council area as the above poster's in-laws.

@celiafforcandle

OP is your council totally 'Woke' and creating cycle lanes that are never used? Remember it at next council election.

I've never seen cycle lanes, but when booking appointments, we have to put the car registration, so they can limit the number of visits per vehicle. The instructions tell you to write 'bike' in the registration box if you're going to the tip on a bike.

Some time ago, there was a local news story about a man who lived very close to his local tip who used to take his rubbish there in a wheel barrow until they stopped him, citing 'Health and Safety' or some other nonsense. If they let you go on a bike, I don't see any harm in letting the bloke who lives opposite the tip pop over with his wheelbarrow.

I must be very lucky because I just pop down without booking a slot and dispose of my empty bottles.

Our tip is working even more effectively since the pandemic. No queues at all as you book a slot in advance. It’s great! My brother only lives a few miles away though and his local tip is awful.

We are having a major sort out and rather than navigate the intricacies of multiple top visits we have hired a skip! I can’t wait for it to come! Councils shouldn’t make it that hard for people to access one of their core functions!

Oh my god this is ridiculous OP! It’s not like that at all where I live. We have to book a dlot, but can get rod of anything. The only ‘pay’ section is to dispose of rubble, but you can get tid of two bags before you have to pay. What you describe is bonkers!

Ours is a booking system. We are only allowed 1 van a month or a couple of car slots. 15 minutes each slot. Was a nightmare when we moved a few months ago. I ended up having to pay a company to take lots away which I couldn’t afford.

I know a family who have 2 wheelchair users, therefore their car is a wheelchair accessible vehicle ( looks a bit like the school transport vehicles). They can't take things to the tip in it because it is counted as a commercial vehicle, which it clearly isn't, it is a necessary family vehicle. Same family have 2 people permanently using nappies / pads so generate more waste than average. So whenever the council don't come to take the bins as scheduled, they are up shit creek.
I live in a different council, our council have been pretty good at turning up, apart from this time last year. But the tip across the border is so hard to access, I'm not surprised people flytip!

Ours is operating as usual and has been since May 2020. No "pay bins" still people fly tip

This is what happens when councils hand over a functioning council tip to a private company who cut costs in any way they can. Closures, hour cuts, pay bins.

No. This is what happens when people think that public services should be free or low cost and refuse to accept that councils can't afford to run services for free, look after granny, run schools and do everything else that they are legally mandated to do without enough money to pay for those services. You get what you pay for and this is what you are paying for.

You have choices - stop whinging about the massive (minimal) council tax increases and pay up for local services, pay for the services privately, or stop electing idiots to central government who are happy to pay £millions to their buddies for rubbish PPE, but not properly fund public services for the population at large.

Because it's going to get worse. Neither recycling plants nor removing fly tips are statutory services; and many councils are now already stopping or cutting back on those services (and others) in order to pay for statutory services that they still can't afford to run even with the savings from cuts.

Our council have a bulky waste collection, I phoned to ask them to collect a bed so as to avoid the huge queues at the tip. Costs increase according to number of items so one bed is actually three items (mattress, base and headboard) Because it would cost the same for five items I asked them to pick up a gate as well. Council then said no we can't collect a gate it has to be household items. Thankfully the binmen don't adhere to council policy because they asked if I wanted them to take the gate as well as the bed.

@celiafforcandle

OP is your council totally 'Woke' and creating cycle lanes that are never used? Remember it at next council election.

Nope, and nor are any others. Cycle lanes are being created to meet government targets for sustainable transport, and paid for from central public funds. If the council doesn't create them, not only do they not get the money to pay for them, but they are penalised financially for failing to address the government targets.

Remember that at the next national election.

My general waste bin had just been emptied. It is now completely full with the general waste I have been 'storing' for the past few days. It won't be emptied for 2 weeks.
My two recycling bins are completely full, and have been for days. I have several bin bags of recycling ready to fill the bins up again on bin day (Wednesday)
The tip is only open for particular circumstances (ie not me)
Fly tipping is rife, even in places where it wasn't a "thing" before the new "system "
I'm sure there's no correlation:(

@TheRealMrsMorningstar

Ours will only accept one type of rubbish at a time. I have a bed to dispose of which will now be 3 trips; metal, wood, landfill. It is a toddler bed (poor condition so can't pass on) which all fits in my boot in one go but I have to go 3 times 🤷🏼‍♀️ ridiculous!

So very unenvironmentally friendly

It’s a total disgrace. Asbestos being dumped all over the place in beautiful rural areas.

As long as you can get it into a bin bag it can get collected here. Due to the way the flats are laid out we have dustbins not Wheely bin's, so a lot smaller, but you can put out as many of the sacks as you want on bin day. Same for recycling day. All recycling in one bin bag/ bin.

About half of areas have now brought in annual charges for green garden waste kerbside fortnightly collections - they were included in council tax before. I think this will only increase fly-tipping too. I really feel for those on a low income - there are no means-tested discounts available and even early payer discounts are only helpful to those who have the money readily available. Residents with low incomes are also less likely to have a car and access to a tip, especially in rural areas. They could use a compost in, sure, but that's another chunk of money to find for the hard up. We shouldn't have a two-tier system for access to basic council services - the haves and the have nots. Councils should be doing everything possible to encourage recycling for all residents, discourage unnecessary car journeys and discourage fly-tipping.

@justanotherneighinparadise

My MIL loves in Bishops Stortford and now has to pay separately to have her garden waste removed. No more green bin. Prepare for that reality in the near future.

I've had to pay to have my garden waste removed for years. This year's bill has just come it's £40.

compost bin

Locally there used to be two tips in our county, one in the city....one more rural. They shut the rural one down years ago, it was used a lot. Fly tipping shot up.

I’m actually nearer to a tip in another county but not allowed to use it. They have anpr and turn people away who aren’t from that county. It’s 10 miles from my house compared to 30 miles to the city tip.

City tip you now have to pre book. A slot online, limited slots.