Fly-tipping, by definition, is the illegal dumping of waste. In Sefton, household waste must be presented on the day of collection in wheeled bins or sacks. Any disposal of waste outside of these guidelines is considered fly-tipping. This includes:
- Leaving large items and bags of waste in rear alleys.
- Leaving waste on the street outside of the day of collection if not asked to do so following a missed collection.
- Placing bags or items of waste next to public bins.
Residents found to be fly-tipping will be issued with a fixed penalty notice, under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
In Sefton, this penalty is £400.
When a fixed penalty notice is issued the resident will be told a number of things including:
- why they have been given a fixed penalty;
- the penalty and how they can pay it, including to whom it should be paid and the address to do so;
- how long they have to pay to discharge liability (14 days beginning with the date of the notice);
- whether there’s a discount for paying early (10 days beginning with the date of the notice);
- that they can make challenge the allegations contained in the fixed penalty notice (and how to do so).
Additionally, occupiers of domestic properties have a duty of care to ensure they only transfer household waste produced on their property to an authorised person. This means via authorised Council collections or by a genuine, registered waste removal company.
Failure to do so, can result in residents being issued with a fixed penalty notice, under section 34(2A) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
This includes where:
- fly-tipped waste can be traced back to an individual;
- an unauthorised carrier is found to be carrying household waste that was directly transferred to them by the occupier;
- an individual is found to have transferred their household waste to an unauthorised person at a site that does not have a permit or exemption.
Residents must take reasonable steps to ensure the person or company that that takes their waste was authorised to do so. You can use this link to find out more about checking on a waste company.
In some cases, the Council may decide to prosecute individuals for environmental crimes such as fly-tipping.