Swansea amongst the best local authorities in Wales for issuing fixed penalty to tackle fly-tipping

The Welsh Government has today (06 October) announced annual fly-tipping statistics – revealing that Swansea is amongst the best-performing local authorities in Wales for having issued the highest number of fixed penalty notices.

Achieving a 487.5% increase on last year’s figure with 47 fixed penalty notices issued, Swansea Council has demonstrated further strides to tackle fly-tipping in the last year.

Cardiff (565 FPNs), and Powys (69 FPNs) are also amongst the best-performing local authorities for issuing fixed penalty notices to tackle fly-tipping across Wales.

The 2021-22 report, which analyses incidents recorded by local authorities between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022, also revealed that, a total of 966 waste enforcement actions (including prosecutions and fixed penalty notices) were recorded in Wales.

To try and tackle fly-tipping across the nation and decrease incidents in Swansea, Fly-tipping Action Wales is calling on Swansea residents to ensure that they are disposing of their excess household rubbish and garden waste responsibly, by following their Waste Duty of Care.

Neil Harrison, Team Leader for Fly-tipping Action Wales, said: “It’s reassuring to see that Swansea Council is amongst the top-performing local authorities in Wales for successfully issuing the highest number of fixed penalty notices to help combat fly-tipping, demonstrating the local authority’s commitment to dealing with this crime.

“In Wales, it remains the case that around two thirds of all fly-tipping incidents contain waste from households, which is why we are urging residents to protect themselves from unregistered waste carriers and asking them to always check with Natural Resources Wales that the person they use to remove any excess rubbish from their home is a registered waste carrier.

Cyril Anderson, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “Our waste enforcement teams are working to keep our city clean and free of litter.

“We have powers to serve fixed penalty notices to individuals as well as businesses if they are caught doing something that results in litter on our streets.

“Many that litter or fly tip believe they won’t get caught or that nothing will be done about it. They are wrong and we will continue to fight back against those that show little respect for our city.

“Our cleansing teams are out every day cleaning streets, parks, beaches and public areas and all we ask is that those living in Swansea work with us to keep our city clean.”

When arranging the removal of household waste, people in Wales are required to check with Natural Resources Wales that the person or company they are using are a registered waste carrier, or calling 03000 653000.

Failure to make these appropriate checks could result in a £300 fixed penalty notice if the waste is fly-tipped.