Keep Britain Tidy, Love your Landscape!

Just driving a short journey to work, it’s astounding to see the amount of litter accumulating even on quiet county roads – usually food waste packaging thrown out the car window that just couldn’t wait to be taken home or put in a waste bin as driving past.

Despite being a blight on communities, harming the environment and costing millions of taxpayer’s money, littering remains a big problem in the UK.

Here’s 10 facts about litter:

1. More than two million pieces of litter are dropped in the UK every day.
2. Almost 48% of people admit to dropping litter.
3. The amount of litter dropped each year in the UK has increased by 500% since the 1960s.
4. 7 out of every 10 items of discarded litter is food packaging or wrappers.
5. Around 122 tons of cigarette butts and cigarette-related litter is dropped every day across the UK.
6. 1.3m pieces of rubbish are dropped on UK roads every weekend. 1/3 of motorists admit to littering while they are driving.
7. Cleaning up litter from the streets of Britain costs taxpayers around £500 million. That does not include the amount it costs to clean up parks and other public spaces.
8. Orange peel and banana skins take up to 2 years to biodegrade, cigarette butts take to 2 years, plastic bags take 10-20 years and plastic bottles can last forever.
9. 500,000 items of litter make their way into the sea from UK rivers every year, impacting on marine life.
10. The canals and rivers of England and Wales could be plastic-free in a year if every visitor picked up one piece of litter, according to the The Canal and River Trust.

According to https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bigger-fines-possible-for-littering-and-fly-tipping Environmental crimes like littering and fly-tipping are cynical and opportunistic, damaging wildlife and nature, creating eyesores and ruining our enjoyment of the great outdoors. The new upper limit to fines will deter people from harming our public spaces in the first place and ensure that those who continue to offend face tougher consequences.

The fly tipping issue has increased significantly over the last few years and as the mornings/nights are getting lighter it is becoming more noticeable the amount of waste being tipped by the roadside ILLEGALLY.

Fly-tipping is when waste is illegally dumped on roads or land which is not licensed for waste. Fly-tipped waste generally consists of materials such as household waste, large domestic items such as fridges and furniture, garden refuse, commercial waste, such as building rubble and soil, asbestos waste and tyres.

You are fly tipping if you leave waste beside street bins, on the pavement in front of your home, at the rear of home, on the floor in communal bin areas, on the floor at recycling centres that do not accept the waste you are recycling or anywhere that is not a registered waste facility or container.

It is an anti-social and criminal act leading to a rise in the fear of crime, a negative effect on other resident’s quality of life or a change in how residents feel about their home, street, and town.

Fly-tipping can have impacts on the local environment by causing pollution, being a possible danger to public health and being hazardous to wildlife.

By law, it is the householder who is responsible for making sure their waste is disposed of safely and legally. When fly-tipping occurs, it is often carried out by illegal waste carriers who promise to take your waste away for a bargain fee but then dump it. If the waste is dumped illegally, the waste could be traced back to you rather the person who dumped it and you would be held responsible if you have not taken reasonable steps to ensure it is handed over to a legitimate waste carrier. If you are looking to start on a household project, consider what waste you may generate and how you will dispose of it once the job is done. Before hiring any individual or company, take down the individual’s or company details and check with the Environment Agency that they are a registered waste carrier.

Further details regarding fly tipping can be found on most local council websites such as https://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/fly-tipping/faqs-about-fly-tipping/

AB waste Disposal are a responsible waste carrier and only dispose collected waste at our waste transfer stations so when hiring a skip or waste collection service you can be assured that your waste will be disposed of correctly and responsibly. You can check all our company details for peace of mind on our website www.abwaste.co.uk

Don’t drop it, Bin it!!