Fly-tipping enforcement stepped up

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

A crackdown on illegal dumping is set to be stepped up with extra enforcement officers and the use of surveillance cameras.

In Swansea, the council has set aside an additional £250,000 in its 2026-27 budget to tackle fly-tipping and strengthen enforcement.

Councillors were told at a scrutiny panel meeting that the approach will combine tougher enforcement with education and engagement. This will include reminding householders they have a legal duty of care when hiring a waste carrier to ensure the person is properly authorised.

Cllr Cyril Anderson, joint cabinet member for community, said fly-tipping enforcement in Swansea had been “badly under-staffed” and four more personnel plus surveillance cameras would help.

“People know who’s doing it (fly-tipping),” he said. “They are reporting to us but when we ask for a statement they are afraid of giving statements because of retaliation.” He added: “But I think things will be improving.”

The issue was raised by Cllr Chris Holley who said fly-tipping was a reality across the city and “a disaster for everyone”. He said ways needed to be found to stop it and discourage offenders.

Cllr Holley reckoned it might have a link with missed household waste collections, which have been problematic in Swansea.

A council officer said she would provide updated missed collection data in writing. She added: “We are confident we can say it’s far more stable and better-performing than it was – a whole variety of reasons for that.”

She added the more generous enforcement budget would likely mean more initiatives with police and environment regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW), such as stop and search operations.

She said it was hard to gather evidence for smaller fly-tipping offences, such as a householder dumping a couple of black bags somewhere, should prosecution be sought. “We need names and addresses, or we need witnesses and people to come forward, or doorbell or car camera footage,” she said.

There were 2,579 recorded incidents where fly-tipped waste was removed in Swansea in 2024-25 – slightly higher than the previous year – and 75 fines were issued.

Larger-scale fly-tipping is investigated by NRW, sometimes with other bodies.

The council officer said measures were being rolled out nationally to track all forms of waste electronically to clamp down on waste crime.

Penalty points

The UK Government has proposed drivers getting penalty points on their licence if they’re caught fly-tipping and is encouraging councils to seize and crush fly-tippers’ vehicles.

Cllr Matthew Jones said cross-border working between local authorities was important and that vehicle seizures were “a really strong tool”.

Cllr Jones also welcomed Swansea Council’s 71.7% muncipal waste recycling rate confirmed for 2024-25 – the third-highest among Wales’s 22 authorities and a 1.2% increase on the previous year.

The minimum target was 70% in 2024-25 and councils can face fines for missing statutory targets. The Welsh Government fined Blaenau Gwent council in 2026-17 and said it would have fined Cardiff council in 2019-20 had it not been for the impact it would have had during the Covid pandemic.

Some black bag waste in Swansea ends up in unusual places. Cllr Michael Locke asked if some of it still went to Sweden to which the council officer said: “Some of it is going abroad yes.”