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Fly-tipping: National database - Flycapture 2007-2008 data

Fly-tipping: National database - Flycapture - 2007-2008 data

Headline statistics from the fourth year (2007-2008) of Flycapture were published October 2008.


2007-2008 data

Initial headline statistics from the third year of Flycapture indicate:

  • 1.28m fly-tipping incidents dealt with by local authorities in England
  • Fly-tipping costs local authorities alone almost £74m a year to clear up
  • 50% of fly-tips involved household waste

This year Liverpool (LCC) have been included into the analysis, however due to their large numbers of small fly-tips recorded in 2006-07 we have also provided data with Liverpool excluded.

Local Authority breakdown

This year we have published a local authority breakdown of incidents, costs and prosecutions for all the four years of Flycapture. While all local authorities have now registered on the database, the amount and type of information being provided can vary between them.

County councils are not required to supply data to Flycapture but have been included in this table as some have supplied us with information.

Regional breakdowns

The following are regional data sheets produced from the Flycapture data reported by local authorities within each of the Government Office regions. Care has to be taken not to make comparisons between regions.

While all local authorities have now registered on the database, the amount and type of information being provided can vary between them.

Regional Flycapture headline sheets April 2007 - March 2008

East Midlands
(PDF 157 KB)

  • costing local authorities over £3.4 million per year
  • 70,900 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region.
  • 63% of incidents involved household waste.

East of England
(PDF 158 KB)

  • costing local authorities over £4.2 million per year
  • 72,400 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 63% of incidents involved household waste.

London
(PDF 149 KB)
  • costing local authorities over £22.2 million per year
  • 557,600 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 55% of incidents involved household waste.

North East
(PDF 171KB)

  • costing local authorities nearly £6 million per year
  • 78,800 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 65% of incidents involved household waste.

North West
(PDF 208 KB)

  • costing local authorities over £19.2 million per year
  • 174,400 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 66% of incidents involved household waste.

South East
(PDF 167 KB)

  • costing local authorities nearly £5.7 million per year
  • 119,100 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 58% of incidents involved household waste.

South West
(PDF 162 KB)

  • costing local authorities over £2.6 million per year
  • 45,400 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 59% of incidents involved household waste.

West Midlands
(PDF 167 KB)

  • costing local authorities over £3.5 million per year
  • 63,600 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 56% of incidents involved household waste.

Yorkshire and Humber
(PDF 179 KB)

  • costing local authorities over £6.9 million per year
  • 108,500 incidents were dealt with by local authorities in the region
  • 68% of incidents involved household waste.
Environment Agency

The Environment Agency (EA) has a very important role in dealing with fly-tipping. The Environment Agency deals mainly with the larger illegal dumping incidents – termed as 'Big, Bad and Nasty'. Most of these illegal dumps are bigger than a ‘tipper load’. Incidents involving organised crime and drummed hazardous waste can involve multiple incidents less than a tipper load in size.
The EA also submits data to the Flycapture database. In England during 2007-2008:

  • The Environment Agency dealt with a total of 700 illegal waste dumping incidents (a drop from 982 in 2006/7) 
  • Estimated to have cost the Environment Agency £ 94,000 to clear up incidents of illegally dumped waste
  • The Environment AgencyEA took 183 prosecutions forward in relation to illegal waste activities, resulting in over £ 401,000 in fines  (an increase from 161 prosecutions in 2006/7) 
  • Average fine per prosecution was £2,900 where a fine was the outcome  (a slight decrease from £3,200 in 2006/7) 
  • The Environment Agency prosecutes over 25% of the incidents it investigates. This is an increase on 16% last year 

Page last modified: 16 October 2008
Page published: 9 October

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs