There’s no excuse for flytipping, but I know why they do it.
The last Governmemnt brought in Legislation that forced anyone who carries trade waste to obtain a waste licence for their vehicle. That is £140 for 3 years for every vehicle.
Any scheme with common sense would make a Company pay a one-off charge to cover all their vehicles, but common sense doesnt come into it.
Ok, roughly £50/yr isnt too bad.
So now I can use the local tip to chuck my building waste.
Actually, no.
Once you have your carriers licence, you then need a Council Permit that allows you to use their designated tip. Ok, £20 ish to get that. Then they say you cant use the tip 2 miles from your house, you can only use the one 15 miles away.
“What? but you take building waste at my local tip”
Arr, but that is householders dumping there, the Trade can only dump at the other tip.
So you drive to the other tip to throw away the bath you have just taken out, possibly weighs 25kg, so, you know you will have to pay £70/tonne to dump, but 25kg is only going to be a couple of quid.
Then you weigh in, and get told there is a minimum charge. Half a tonne. So then you have to pay £35 to dump a single bath, after having to do a 30 mile round trip to dump it.
Suddenly the £100 you have charged to swap a bath doesnt seem too good for you, you’ve made less than £60.
The next week, you go back with a few more things, after storing them for a week to get enough tom make it worthwhile to go to the tip. You’ve cleaned the van out over the weekend, and forgot to put your Waste Carriers Licence back into your van. The tip ask to see your Licence before they’ll weigh you.”But you know me, I come here every week”
They refuse to let you in. (yes, they do do that, even when they know you have a valid licence)
Then. you get home that day, and find a letter from the Council. You’ve kept a couple of baths and panels in your front garden for a week, to make the cost of dumping less.
The council are now prosecuting you for storing Trade waste at your house. They say you are fully conversant with the Trade Waste Legislation, as you have a Liccence and permit, so you should know that storing waste at home is an offence.
So now you are being fined £100, because you wanted to be legitimate, but didnt want to be robbed of £35 for a single item at the tip, whereas you could fill the van up once a week and pay the same amount.
If you did all of the above, that is try to be legitimate, then your faith in the Legislation would be sorely tested.
If you had no interest in being legitimate, why bother? Just dump wherever you can, and the occasional fine will likely be less than the ongoing cost of being legitmate.
Being caught is so unlikely anyway, that it is a risk that many think is worth taking.
So, firstly, blame the scumbags who do it, then , the idiotic Council Officials who implement these Laws, to the letter, rather then being sanguine about it,giving it some thought, then allowing anyone to dump at any tip, as that is better than paying to clear the illegal dumping everywhere.
But, knowing Council Officials, nothing will change, as they have no idea how to think for themselves, unless there is a vested interest for the council, or themselves.
See, they have income from licences. tipping and permits now. If that was to stop, for say, vans under 1 tonne, they can easily work out how much income they will not get next year.
But, the illegal dumping isnt costed, as, well, it is illegal, so they justify taxing the Legal more, and put the flytipping down as an illegal activity that costs all the taxpayers, so everyone pays 10p per year for this clearing, whereas it would be 2p if the tips were open to all.
But, Council Officials are not normal, and cannot see the bigger picture.