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It's a #CrimeNotToCare when
it comes to getting rid of your rubbish
THIS week, Wirral Council is supporting
Keep Britain Tidy as it launches a campaign to tackle the epidemic of
fly tipping that is affecting communities up and down the country.
Wirral Council receives an average of 250 reports of fly tipping every month;
that's around 8 every day. More than 70% of these reports are about fly tipping,
on highways and in back alleyways, and most involve household waste.
#CrimeNotToCare aims to educate householders about the right thing to do with
their rubbish and to reduce the amount of household waste that is fly tipped by
rogue traders who offer to take people's waste away for money and then dump it.
The campaign aims to get the message across that if an individual's waste is
fly tipped, even if they gave it to a ⅓ party to dispose of, they can be
prosecuted and end up with a fine and a criminal record.
Cllr Bernie Mooney, Wirral Council Cabinet member for Environment, said:-
"Fly tipping and alleyway dumping has a really detrimental impact on our
neighbourhoods. We understand that people are naturally keen to seek the best
possible price when it comes to paying someone to take away unwanted bulky items
in their van or truck. However, they need to be aware it could end up proving a
really costly mistake to make unless they make the necessary checks on the
people they employ. If you are getting rid of any waste, be that garden waste,
any old household items such as a sofa, mattress or washing machine or just
extra bags of rubbish, you need to check that the company you are using is a
registered waste carrier. Unlicensed waste carriers are more likely to cut
corners and fly tip, which is why they can offer lower prices unfairly
undercutting legitimate businesses who take their environmental responsibilities
seriously. Not only are they avoiding their responsibility and charges for the
proper disposal of waste, but by fly tipping waste they are leaving an unsightly
mess and causing additional costs to the Council or Pprivate Landowners who have
to clear up after them."
Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton added:- "#CrimeNotToCare
is an important campaign for our country and we are delighted that Wirral is
partnering with us on it. There are almost a million fly tipping incidents in
England every year and cleaning it all up costs us more than £50 million a year.
It blights communities and our countryside and is a menace. We need the public
to understand that their rubbish is their responsibility and they must do the
right thing with it. Giving it to a 'man with a van' who offers to get
rid of it cheaply could prove costly for people and result in them getting a
criminal record. They have a duty of care and this campaign will help explain to
them exactly what that is and how to protect themselves."
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