Fly-tippers ‘dumping bags of household rubbish’ in public litter bins

Nicholas Thomas Local Democracy Reporter

People caught dumping their excess household waste in public litter bins could be punished for fly-tipping.

A senior Newport councillor said “misuse” of litter bins constitutes fly-tipping – the illegal disposal of rubbish on public or private land.

The warning comes amid concerns of a “growing number of public bins being used to dump bags of household rubbish”.

Rogerstone North councillor Chris Reeks said he had seen such behaviour and received reports from residents about the problem, and asked the city council what steps it was taking to “track down the householders responsible”.

Concern

In Newport, residents must place bagged non-recyclable waste into designated wheelie bins for collection, generally every three weeks.

Welsh Government figures show nearly half of all fly-tipping incidents in the city in 2022/23 involved bags of household waste.

Cllr Reeks said he was concerned that people dumping excess waste in public litter bins could lead to the council using extra resources, and spending more money, to empty them.

But Cllr Yvonne Forsey, the cabinet member for climate change, said there had been “no increase in resources linked to litter bin emptying” and “no additional costs within waste budgets”.

In a warning to would-be offenders, she added: “The dumping of household waste on the street, including misuse of litter bins, constitutes fly-tipping.

“Where any improper use of litter bins is detected, information is sent to the waste enforcement team.

“If there is sufficient evidence, enforcement action is taken.”

Targets

Newport Council moved from fortnightly to three-weekly bin collections in 2023 as part of plans to increase the city’s recycling performance, in line with rising Welsh Government targets.

The move passed despite some concerns that more people would resort to fly-tipping to get rid of their extra waste.

Cllr Forsey, in her response to Cllr Reeks, said the amount of black bag waste collected in March and April this year was down 9% when compared with the same months in 2023.

Some 6,264 reports of fly-tipping were made in the Newport Council area in 2022/23, the most recent figures on record, and covering a period before city-wide three-weekly bin collections began.

Only Cardiff, with 7,044 reports, recorded more fly-tipping incidents across Wales in that time.