Why is rubbish and fly tipping is seem to be everywhere?
Posted by No_Goat_645@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 29 comments
I'm seeing high streets littered with rubbish, bin bags and rubbish in random places, chair. fridge, mattress. I called my neighbour out for leaving a rubbish in in the street. What's wrong with people?
misimalu@reddit
I’m a Brit who came home recently from the US to help clear my parents house and i was stunned at how challenging it now is to get rid of basic landfill rubbish. Fortnightly and monthly collection schedules were maddeningly restrictive, and the tip when we could get there, required us to separate items to such a finite level that what should have taken us a week took over month. (there was no driveway for a skip) We wanted to hire a company but were warned that the ones that dont have a long list are the ones that take your money and fly tip it somewhere. Tl;Dr it is unnecessarily difficult and expensive to dispose of rubbish correctly in the uk imho
InternationalRide5@reddit
It's illegal to send anything to landfill if it can be recycled, and there are restrictions on a lot of other things eg biodegradable waste must go to a different landfill site from gypsum plasterboard and other high sulphate waste.
The US sends 50% of waste to landfill, the UK sends 11.2% (although we incinerate a lot more in waste-to-energy schemes, which comes with its own environmental problems).
Large-Associate6746@reddit
The recycling centres open near me require 1hr plus midday on a weekday.
They have two lanes, but one is permanently closed, everyone is essentially going for the non recyclable bin at the end, so it’s single file while everyone loads their shit.
If you want to drop hardcore at bin 1 at the entrance, you have to wait and hour to get out.
Doing the right thing is hardly incentivised.
Councils need to change these silly rules and management of the recycling centres or be bold and send a lorry/skip to a area covering several streets for a week to take all waste, or pay the cost and the eyesore of fly tipping.
I have a mate who works the bins on the council, the team that deals with fly tips is huge, ahh nth y evidence they report like identifiable waste (letters) is ignored and not investigated, they do allow a private company to do this, who they don’t pay and revenue comes from fines.
They don’t investigate fly tipping, they sit in towns looking for cigarettes and crisp packets
Anxious_Equipment144@reddit
Councils have budgets cut, councils close recycling centres or make them appointment only, fly tipping goes up, council ends up spending more cleaning up the fly tipping than it saved on closing the dump. So it goes.
No_Goat_645@reddit (OP)
we got some genius people in councils.
odjobz@reddit
To be fair, I think a lot of them are just really underfunded and still dealing with the impact of austerity.
petethepete2000@reddit
The impact of loads and loads of cheap stuff as well
Oghamstoner@reddit
Tell me about it! Mine wouldn’t tell me when the bib collection was. Then my bin got pinched, now they want me to pay for another.
Wrong--Conclusions@reddit
Ours charges for DIY waste too, even small amounts.
Upstairs-Apricot-786@reddit
Ours you have to book on line but it’s easy. You don’t have to tell them in advance what you are bringing.
VixenRoss@reddit
Also to use our tip, you have to book in advance, take photo I’d, take proof of address to prove you’re in the borough. If you’re dumping for someone else, you need their photo Id as well. Vans have to be vetted to prove they are not commercial. Commercial have to go through a different process… so much paperwork to ditch a washing machine. It’s easier to leave it for the scrap fairies.
Spiritual_Tie3348@reddit
The prices that a man with a van has to pay to get rid of the rubbish has gone up a lot, plus some sites doing minimum weight charges so even if they have 100kg they have to pay for say 200kg. It was always going to lead to more fly tipping. Plus council recycling sites doing bookings only.
deci_bel_hell@reddit
It’s awful and sad 😔 it’s a lack of civic pride. A “fuck you Jack. I’m alright” attitude. Report them. Usually councils have reporting apps or sanitation teams who deal with fly tipping.
thefreeDaves@reddit
Councils making it difficult to take stuff to the dump
hime-633@reddit
I live in a flat and we have shared bin space. Caught my neighbour flytipping his business rubbish outside one day. Literally unloading loads of crap from the back of a van.
People just don't care. You have to shame them. I stood there and argued the toss about him dumping his commercial rubbish on the street outside our house until he caved and picked it up.
100% sure he drove round the corner and dumped it somewhere else.
Some people just don't give a shit and I cannot fathom why.
Dflashman@reddit
Last time this was asked, I answered honestly, received a ban and was accused of racism.
I’m not falling for that one again.
Atlantean_Raccoon@reddit
Local council budgets have been constrained since austerity and to make it worse, are struggling with the growing cost of predominantly, adult social care. Tips also basically require a full map of your colon before they let you use the site in case you live in another authority. Also some people are just lazy and selfish.
DeadYen@reddit
Fly tipping is because some people have a “not in my back yard, not my problem” mentality.
I get that councils charge for collection but most people still live fairly close to the tip, I saved 20 quid by listing my knackered washing machine on Facebook marketplace for free and it was gone in a few hours.
There isn’t an excuse really.
No_Goat_645@reddit (OP)
I take my old electronics to Curry's, they recycle it for free.
Alicam123@reddit
Who knows but it’s not everywhere or everyone would get caught and fined, just report them 🤷🏻♀️
HopeTerminator@reddit
Scum. Subhuman scum.
First-Banana-4278@reddit
I strongly suspect there is a similar proportion of folk who litter/flytip and that this has remained largely consistent overtime. I think big increases in the amount of litter/Flytipping visible about the place are a sign of how stretched local government budgets are more than anything else. One of the easiest services to scale back or cut is street cleansing - it’s probably also why we have so many bins and random collection days now compared to weekly “just put everything out”.
Unfortunately I don’t think telling the folks who habitually do this they need to stop because the council can’t afford to pick up after them as much anymore is unlikely to change behaviours.
First-Banana-4278@reddit
I see I am not the first to have this thought. Great minds and all that jazz.
Kind-Elder1938@reddit
Not everyone of course, but there do seem to be far too many folk who- when they no longer want something - think they can just "throw it away" when of course there IS no such place as "away" and someone has to deal with it. It is very good to see how many community litter pick groups there are around - but we should not live in a world where they are necessary.
TapeDeckSlick@reddit
People are dickheads and councils and stretched thin
daveyboy2009@reddit
Patriots
daniluvsuall@reddit
For local litter, it’s a cultural thing. People see an area declining and care less about it - also generations of people who have nothing and don’t care about looking after places/things.
Fly tipping is more complicated and it’s to do with commercial charges to dispose of waste. Like not being able to go to the tip in a van, or having to register in advance (making hiring a van and getting rid of some stuff impossible or very hard) so someone may well pay someone £100 to get rid of some waste.. but they just find a ditch somewhere to dispose of it.
GlennTheBaker69@reddit
Personal responsibility is something that has disappeared.
qualityvote2@reddit
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