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

@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 .

Our council is "getting round" this by implementing charges for building waste, no matter who brings it and in what type of vehicle.

Basically, the rule is, if it's something you'd take with you when you move house, it's free to dump. If you wouldn't take it with you (i.e. plasterboard, kitchen cupboards, bathroom fittings, fence panels, etc) then you have to pay.

Now... the downside... you must pay per item. So if your fence panel won't fit in your car, instead of paying to dispose of one fence panel, you must now pay to dispose of 3 pieces of wood.

Some price examples include:

• bag of cement - £3.10
• bathroom sink - £3.10
• bathroom pedestal - £3.10
• bath and panel - £6.20
• Toilet cistern - £6.20
• Toilet pan - £6.20
• Toilet cistern, pan and seat - £12.40 (woohoo - free seat disposal!)
• fence post - £3.10
• floorboard (yup - each) - £3.10

When it was announced everyone predicted an increase in flytipping but the council were adamant that it wouldn't.

Guess who was right?!

@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 thought that was normal, we've had to pay for many years. Just renewed mine, £80 for a wheely bin emptied once a fortnight.

No bulky waste collection, no car. Fortunately friend of a friend has a wood burning stove.

Not been to the tip since Covid so can't comment on that but the regular recycling/waste some of you mention is madness.

We have alternating general waste and recycling. Recycling is one bin - paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastics (including things like plastic bags and bubble wrap). Batteries and textiles you can bag up separately and put out with recycling. Food waste goes weekly. Garden waste is £35 a year for fortnightly collection. There's also bulky waste collection which is a fixed price for a certain number items and then a bit more per extra item. They take loads of stuff.

And, guess what, we have some of the best recycling take up in the country because it's simple - you don't have to sort paper, plastic into different boxes, and they take most things. I would struggle with sorting more out myself.

I agree. I went after Christmas and had to queue for nearly 2 hours to even get into the dump. Had my ID checked to ensure I was 'allowed' to use this particular tip. Once I was eventually by the bins they were only allowing you to get rid of general waste and literally nothing else other than cardboard. So, everyone did what you described. Bagged up literally everything and chucked it in general waste and just lied to the men who were quizzing you on what was in the bloody binbag.

I had a cardboard box with plastic on it. I ripped out the plastic panel from the rest of the box and went to bin it in general waste (as it had solid plastic on it). I got shouted at by the man because it had about 1cm of cardboard trim on it. So I just chucked it in the cardboard one because at this point I was fed up and didn't care anymore.

The fly tipping on the roads to the dump are horrendous. People just don't have the time queue (less people allowed in to allow for the cars to socially distance) or what they want to dispose off isn't allowed. It's a joke.

I recently cleared two houses, one i was selling and the other moving too, the council tip couldn't have been easier to use.
Sure things like building rubble, tyres and asbestos is charged for but i must have made dozens of trips with no issues, longest wait was maybe 30mins but most of the time no waits.
they took a cooker, 2 freezers, a fridge, sofa, chairs, mattresses and loads of bags of rubbish... all for free.

So, you'd think they'd be no fly tipping locally? Wrong :(
people still do it because they are bone lazy, will avoid paying a small amount for a couple bags of plaster and don't give a shit about the countryside... these same people leave rubbish at beaches and parks too, despite bins and cars to take it home in, if bins full.

@TheRealMrsMorningstar our tip is the same - only one type of waste and you have to state what it is when you book two weeks in advance. A complete joke.
We ended up paying a clearance company (with a waste licence) to get rid of our rubbish, we have just moved and had a loft full of stuff to get rid of and we just couldn't do it ourselves by going to the tip - it would have taken about a dozen trips. We are restricted to one trip a week.
I can understand booking slots but not restricting the type of waste.
The tip has always been a bastion of jobs worthiness anyway but it has been taken to extremes by Covid.

Also, anyone know how you get rid of old paint tins in London? - my local council are no help - we have inherited a shed full and cannot take them to the tip.

Ours is ridiculous
We have to book online, but if you get in a queue and are so much as 30 seconds over the alloted time they say no.

When you get in, the staff are rude.

I was carrying some bin bags with food and other household waste in as the bin men had missed our bin the week before and the council said they'd be back but they never are.

I got some big guy come up behind me, it's so loud in there, so I could hear someone saying "oi, you" but didn't realise they were talking to me from behind. Next thing I get thumped by this orange vested cretin and he was so rude!
"I'm fucking talking to you, where are you putting that"
So I said "number 1, don't you dare thump me like that, number 2, don't speak to me like that, and number 3, it's general waste left by your useless colleagues so I'm putting it in the correct bit"
He then shouts that I'm to put it in the recycling cart. I said, it's got no recycling in it, it's food waste and the contents of a bathroom bin amongst other stuff
So he bends down and shouts right at me "I SAID PUT IT IN THE FUCKING CART OR IM PUTTING IT BACK IN YOUR FUCKING CAR YOU IGNORANT BITCH"
At that point, DP sees what's going on and he comes over, and he gives it to this twat, don't you speak to my missus like that, it's general waste you twat.
The boss comes over and tells us to leave, so we explained what went on and we expect an apology. He says his colleague is doing his job by telling me to put it in the correct area. I said, no, he was hollering at me and being abusive, I was putting it where it should go. In the end, DP shoved it in the place they said. Bet he had fun going through used sanitary towels and food waste that had been in the bag for over a week.

Some of them are utter pricks.
I pay someone to take it away now, and sorry but if they throw it in a hedge cos of twats like him, I no longer care.

With fortnightly collection, tips that won't let vans in, even those hired for an hour to remove stuff, skips costing a bomb, it's no wonder there is flytipping

I can definitely see why people do it. Again, I wouldn't but we've got space to store things. More bonfires because of this, too. I don't mind occasional garden bonfires for things that are too woody for the compost bin or the garden waste bin - we do it sometimes, but there are definitely a lot more.

Ours is open as normal I don't know of anything that you cant get rid of for free.The local scrap collector comes round the streets for metal waste

Oh yes-we rocked up at ours (pre booked) with some crap,a freezer and a shower screen
The crap and freezer where free but I had to pay £3 for them to take the screen-nobody said anything when we booked
I thought the bloke was going to break his neck,the way he shot towards me-thankfully I had my card as he refused cash
He gave me a real telling off-like I was trying to get one up on the council-I didn’t know as nobody had said anything and there where no signs about it

Odd thing is if you speak to people in the area they all seem to think that it’s £15 to dump a fridge/freezer/tv and everything else is free

It’s really not-it’s more ‘wheel it round the corner and walk away’

We moved house just before Christmas. Our new council tip was appointment only, but we had show proof that we were residents. We had nothing.......
So we drove back over county borders to where we used to love and used the tip there.
I have reported fly tipping on eight different occasions. I have been so snotty about fly tippers, but by God, the council likes to make it as difficult as possible you you to be a responsible citizen don't they?
Having said that, our new bin men are the dogs bollocks😁

Our tip is a pain in the arse too.

We have to make an appointment, which is fine in theory. In reality, queues are enormous, you get 10 minutes to unload and walk to all the million different skips. Only 1 person is allowed out of the car so you end up running out of time and taking most of it back home with you.

We have a pick up, which the council deems as commercial, so we have to get a special permit - however, the department that issues the permits is short staffed due to COVID. We’ve been waiting since Christmas for our permit.

We also have to pay extra for a green garden waste bin, but there are only so many available to unless you’re on the website the second they release slots, you don’t get one.

I got completely fed up and paid for a (fully licenced) waste carrier to take it away in the end but I can totally understand why some people fly tip.

Oh God.....
Had TO show proof
Where we lived, not loved....😶

Agreed. I went to the tip the other day. There was a relatively short queue but it took nearly an hour to get in. The reason why became immediately obvious once I was finally in: they'd coned off all the car bays except 3 Why? Who is contracting covid from non-socially distanced cars?! Outside? No one.

Yeah we ended up hiring a skip. Our tip isn't that bad (council run) but over lock down it was almost impossible to get a slot. The company left the skip for 6 months!

I remember we did some work on our first house. If my husband took it they'd tell him it was "business waste" (it wasn't) and refuse to take it. If I took it they'd carry the bags out the car for me as I was a helpless woman clearly...

Yanbu op. We had a Skoda roomster - had to pay for a pass to take the car to the tip, as they classes it as a van...and you only
get to buy six passes per year. So guess what, we didn’t bother and shoved everything in the black bin and what wouldn’t just went in the recycling bin regardless. Already have to pay for green bin and large item collection on top of council tax.
And before anyone yells at me for not saving the planet - the bin men tip both waste, garden waste and recycling into the same lorry. Having asked them what happens next, they said “all goes to landfill”. So I wonder why we even bother.

Our tip has been operating as normal throughout Covid (apart from lockdown 1 when most things shut). It is contracted out to a 3rd party by the Unitary authority. Normal opening hours - no need to book. Only difference is that the staff will no longer help you lift anything - pre Covid they virtually swooped on your car the minute you opened the boot to help you empty things out. There are queues at peak times at weekends but not for long. We don't pay for garden waste removal - yet - although it has been discussed at Council but dismissed ftb. If you have a van or a trailer you have to apply for a permit which gives you 5 or 6 free visits a year. We used to have a wheelchair accessible vehicle but were never questioned or stopped from entering or told we needed a permit even though we could get as much stuff in it as you could in a van. But guess what? Fly tipping is still a problem around here. I suspect unlicensed 'man with van' types are responsible for a lot of it and I wince every time I see a request for someone who can get rid of a sofa/bed on the local Facebook page as I suspect that 9 times out of 10 in ends up in a layby or ditch.

I don't think free rubbish collection will be free for long

Council will continue to do things like conduct a a £2million nonsultation on library closures and then saying they've saved half a million closing a library.

I am not aware of anyone I can vote for who will end the gravy train.

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.

I can see the thinking behind their rules, but they're designed for their simplicity rather than to help or be fair to tip users. Ours will give you up to 12 permits a year for a 'commercial' vehicle, but a small Fiesta-based van is a commercial vehicle, whereas a Transporter minibus - even if you've removed the seats - is a domestic vehicle, because it has windows. Lots of tradesmen will have a van as their only vehicle - as well as tradesmen, they are also council-tax-paying domestic householders who, like everybody else, will sometimes produce bulky household waste.

As has already been said, disabled people who need converted vans for wheelchairs and people with hobbies or lifestyles for which they run commercial-type vehicles are penalised. These things always go the same, where decent folk end up banned and the determined wrong-doers will be the ones who deliberately buy large MPV-type vans with windows in them, even though they might never carry any
passengers at all.

Tips also seem keen to ban people using 'man with a van' services. They have special permit schemes for those who have a driving licence and are young/fit/strong/healthy enough to hire a van and do it themselves, but some of the more vulnerable members of society can obviously just get stuffed, eh?

It would make a lot more sense to allow anything that can be driven on a normal driving licence, log the registration plates and then limit people to a certain reasonable number of visits - or just investigate further/ban if some vehicles are there every single day. Maybe observe what kind of rubbish people are turning up with, too, as that's usually a big clue as to whether it's a householder/DIYer or a tradesman.

Also, I've never quite understood why, if I were to rip out an old kitchen from my house and take it to the tip myself in a borrowed/hired van, it's domestic waste - but if I pay a tradesman to fit a new one, even if he only charges me for the fitting work and offers to take away my old one in his van as a favour, that same old kitchen suddenly becomes trade waste. What if that tradesman ripped out his own old kitchen - why don't his council tax payments entitle him to dump his own household waste like everybody else's does?

Fly-tippers are scum, no exceptions, no excuses. The stuff was in your home, you can wait to dispose of it legally.

Refuse/recycling collections are funded from council tax but the money allocated is a small percentage with the lion's share going to education and social services.

I do not understand the mentality of people who fly-tip or make excuses for it.

Having asked them what happens next, they said “all goes to landfill”. So I wonder why we even bother.

There are a number of issues with waste disposal, as this thread proves, but this is just conspiracy theory level hyperbole.

Odd thing is if you speak to people in the area they all seem to think that it’s £15 to dump a fridge/freezer/tv and everything else is free

They would help society far more if, instead of those ridiculous 'Go left' adverts telling you not to just yank on your handbrake in the middle of the motorway if you break down, they had regular advertising campaigns to tell people that scrap metal men cannot legally take fridges and freezers. Old barbecues, ironing boards, microwaves, kitchen bins, bikes etc get taken within a day or two, but the fridges and freezers stay there forever.

I also have problems with my general waste, at the moment in our household is 2 toddlers 3 adults and 3 teenagers. 1 big bin emptied every 2 weeks just isn't good enough! We fill 1 up within 3 days I mean I go through 2 small black bags of nappies and nappy changing bits a week.