'We must punish the dumpers' - Disgrace of litter bugs in the West Midlands as the Great British Spring Clean is launched

In a YouGov survey carried out on behalf of Keep Britain Tidy, 84% of adults said they demonstrated their love for where they live by not dropping litter, while others said they litter-picked (15%) and volunteered in their local community (16%). 

Nearly seven in 10 (69%) say they are ‘disappointed’ when they see litter in their local area, while almost half (43%) are angry. They also feel sad (45%) and embarrassed (27%). 

A fifth also said they ‘called out’ littering behaviour. 

Since 2016, the Great British Spring Clean has become the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign, empowering litter conscious people from across the nation to pledge to pick more than four million bags of harmful rubbish from streets, parks and beaches. 

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton, said: “We know there’s a problem - but we also know that people-power is part of the solution."

Local councils dealt with a record 1.15 million incidents of fly-tipping last year, a 6% increase on the previous year, figures show.

Countryside leaders in areas like Shropshire and Staffordshire warned the problem was even greater than the figures suggest as they only include rubbish dumped on public land, while farmers and rural businesses face stress, disruption and “staggering” costs to clear up waste illegally left on private land. 

The data from the Environment Department (Defra) shows local authorities in England dealt with 1.15 million fly-tipping incidents in 2023/24. 

That is an increase of 6% from the 1.08 million the previous year and the highest level in the six years since the current method for reporting was brought in. 

Last year, some 60% of cases involved household waste, with 688,000 incidents of illegally dumped rubbish from homes, ranging from black bags of waste to the contents of shed clearances, furniture, carpets and DIY. The most common place for fly-tipping to occur was on pavements and roads, accounting for 37% of incidents.

Nearly a third (31%) of incidents were the size of a small van load, while 28% were the equivalent of a car boot or less of rubbish. But 4% were the size of a tipper lorry load or larger, with large fly-tipping incidents costing £13.1 million for councils to clean up, the figures show. 

The figures also reveal a slight drop in the number of enforcement actions, with fixed-penalty notices and court fines both down on the previous year. 

One recent case of fly-tipping in the West Midlands involved fridges, cushions and bags of household waste on a stretch of grassland on the road in Darlaston. A video of the waste went viral after it was posted it on social media. In another case,  Oswestry Town Council has agreed to fund a CCTV camera because of the problem of littering in the Crestwood Court area of the rural town.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “Fly-tipping is a disgraceful act which trashes communities and its increase is unacceptable. Communities and businesses shouldn’t have to put up with these crimes.” 

He pledged the Government will crack down on fly-tipping and “punish rubbish dumpers, forcing them to clean up their mess”.

HOW TO TAKE PART IN THE GREAT BRITISH SPRNIG CLEAN

As the nation gears up for the annual Great British Spring Clean, communities across the UK are being encouraged to take action and help tackle litter in their local areas. 

Organised by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, this year’s campaign runs from today (March 21) to April 6, 2025, and marks the event’s 10th anniversary. H

Participants can commit to collecting a certain number of litter bags during the campaign, whether individually or as part of a team. Pledges can be made via the Keep Britain Tidy website: keepbritaintidy.org. 

Local groups, businesses, and schools are encouraged to arrange their own clean-up events and register them on the campaign’s interactive map. 

Volunteers can search for nearby litter-picking events on the campaign’s website and sign up to join a group effort. T

Even those with limited time can contribute by picking up a few pieces of litter during daily walks or commutes.  Social media users can use hashtags #GBSpringClean and #LitterHeroes to inspire others to get involved. 

STAR COMMENT: 

When it comes to litter, the people of Britain are split into two camps.

The vast majority of us are infuriated at the state of our streets, grass verges and hedgerows. We hate our littered streets and always do the right thing ourselves, by disposing of waste properly or taking it home with us.

Then there is the anti-social minority, selfish to the core, for whom throwing a Coke can from a car window is second nature. After all, why find a bin when it can become someone else’s problem.

And when we witness such behaviour, we rarely challenge it for fear of threats or violence from the perpetrators.

Today marks the start of the Great British Spring Clean.

It may, in practical terms, hardly touch the edges of Britain’s litter problem but it may at least highlight the issue that blights our country.

Casual littering is a huge problem across the West Midlands, as is the problem of organised fly-tipping

The figures are staggering. Local councils nationally dealt with a record 1.15 million incidents of fly-tipping last year, a six per cent increase on

the previous year. 

Those figures are an under-estimate as they only include rubbish dumped on public land, while farmers and rural businesses face stress, disruption and “staggering” costs to clear up waste illegally left on private land.

New figures also reveal a slight drop in the number of enforcement actions, with fixed-penalty notices and court fines both down on the previous year.

But while we should expect the authorities to act, this is less about law enforcement and more about common decency and good manners. Unfortunately many peole have neither.ES