Fly-tipping in Wales decreases

New figures from Flycapture show there has been a decline in fly-tipping.

There were 16,000 less instances of fly-tipping in Wales in 2009/10 than there were in 2007/08.

The reduction is partly down to the work of Fly-tipping Action Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government funded initiative which aims to educate all sectors of society on the scale of the fly- tipping problem, and inform businesses and householders of their legal duty to dispose of waste responsibly.

Legal powers within the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act have also helped to manage the problem as they have enabled local authorities and the Environment Agency to react more effectively to fly-tipping.

However, there were still over 45,000 instances of fly- tipping in Wales in 2009/10.

Environment Minister, Jane Davidson said: "The reduction in the number of fly-tipping incidents is good news for Wales."

"Not only is fly-tipping illegal, it is damaging to our environment, it supports organised crime and it is detrimental to the businesses of responsible waste contractors. It also affects the quality of life in our communities, leads to more serious social problems and is a real burden on the tax payer in term of clean-up costs."

Further information:
Welsh Assembly Government