Fly-tipping: Causes, Incentives and Solutions - Keep Britain Tidy

Fly-tipping: Causes, Incentives and Solutions
“If [the prices] continue to go up and up we have no choice but to put
the prices up with our clients…we may start losing clients to one man
vans.”
They were particularly sensitive to price increases and what they saw as
unfair charging practices. A number of practices that were seen as unfair, and
potential drivers for fly-tipping, emerged
1. Interviewees from small businesses were very sensitive to differences in
cost between local authorities. This was seen as unfair in two ways. First,
it meant that businesses in one area had higher disposal costs than others
and second, it implied that one local authority was charging more than they
should.
“They’ve got to make [tip charges] more even across the board.”
The problem arises because disposal sites are run by different companies
who set their own prices. Councils can, however, control this by writing
price limits into the tender documents.
2. Secondly, they were very exercised about how vans were treated which
they thought was often unfair. Vans are usually treated at waste disposal
sites as carrying commercial waste, even though they may contain
household rubbish. This means vans pay more regardless.
“Just because I have a van and the bloke next door has a car, he can
take his waste in [to the civic amenity site] but I can’t.”
“You could get an estate car and go in 30 times a day couldn’t you?”
3. Setting a minimum charge at many commercial waste disposal sites was
an issue particularly for smaller businesses when the minimum charge was
set at a weight of one ton.
“As a small business owner I can’t afford to do it, I can’t.”
“The minimum charge is unfair.”
“We [contractors] can’t afford to pay one ton tipping…It crucifies small
business men.”
Minimum charges such as this affected gardening businesses particularly.
While they may have a large volume of waste (filling their work vehicles) it
is usually quite light so they feel they are being overcharged.
On the other side of the argument one waste transfer station explained
why they have a minimum charge. Each person who comes into the waste
transfer station takes up an employee’s time as they have to check that the
waste is not hazardous and supervise them. There is also the paper work
to consider on the accounts.
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