Refuse - flytipping

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Reporting flytipping

You can report flytipping to:

Bracknell Forest Council on 01344 352000 or by filling in the online form.
The Environment Agency’s flytipping hotline number: 0800 807060
Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111

Useful information to note:

Where and when, date and time, the incident took place
A description of what was tipped and the quantity
What happened – how many people were involved, what did they look like, what did they do, was a vehicle involved? If so, what were the vehicle details?
Did anyone else witness the flytipping? (Witnesses may be asked to appear in court.)

What is flytipping?

Flytipping is the illegal dumping of any waste or rubbish anywhere other than at a licensed tip. It is a problem because uncontrolled dumping can present a hazard to the public from, for example, drums of toxic waste, asbestos sheeting, syringes and unused drugs. Depending on the nature of the waste and its location, there can be damage to watercourses, or to underlying soil quality. Flytipping undermines legitimate waste management activities; licensed operators have to charge more because they have invested in training and registration to comply with the law. It is essential that producers of waste, whether householders or businesses, take responsibility for ensuring their waste is managed without harm to human health or to the environment.

What are the costs of flytipping?

The Environment Agency estimates incidents of flytipping nationally each year cost between £100 million and £150 million to clean up. Residents are bearing the cost of the clearance of rubbish that is dumped by inconsiderate anti-social householders and traders posing as legitimate waste carriers.

What are the laws about flytipping?

In the United Kingdom waste disposal comes under controls that impose a duty to ensure that waste is disposed of properly. Only holders of a Waste Carriers' Licence can transport, deposit or dispose of waste which must be at officially authorised sites that hold a Waste Management Licence. Anyone flytipping waste is committing a serious offence. Fines in Magistrates Courts are up to £50,000 and may include up to six months imprisonment. If the case goes to Crown Court fines are unlimited, and may include up to two years imprisonment or up to five years if hazardous waste is dumped. Where flytipping involves the use of a vehicle, the driver can be prosecuted, as can the person who owns the vehicle.

New legislation is in place which states that householders must “take all reasonable steps to ensure that waste is only taken from their homes by operators who are authorised to do so”. This means that the legal responsibility is placed on the householder to ensure that the trader is registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier. Householders are urged to take extra care when employing traders or private rubbish clearing operators as the householder could be faced with fine of £5,000 for failing in their ‘duty of care’ to pass on their rubbish to legal waste operators. You can check public registers online. can be made online or by telephoning the Environment Agency on 0870 8506 506.

Householders' Duty of Care

Anyone producing waste, including householders, is legally responsible for ensuring it is disposed of without endangering health or harming the environment. This applies to any type of waste that is unsuitable for disposal in your dustbin and unable to be taken as part of the weekly household waste collections.

Waste legislation introduced in 2005 makes householders legally responsible for ensuring their household rubbish is only passed on to an authorised person for disposal, or to a person for authorised transport purposes. You can find more information about the duty of care on the Defra website. The legislation is designed to help reduce the amount of dumped rubbish or flytipping. You can also report dumped rubbish by completing our online form.

Business Duty of Care

Please go to our page about the Longshot Lane recycling centre for more information.

How can we prevent flytipping?

The council’s waste collection services can assist with disposal of larger household items with a chargeable bulky household collection. Residents can also take their rubbish to the household waste recycling centre. Alternatively, any licensed waste carrier can remove waste.