Hertfordshire's 'trailblazing' campaign against fly-tippers sets bar in UK

Hertfordshire Fly Tipping Group’s (FTG) objective is to tackle, what at the time were, annual increases in the amount of fly-tipping recorded across the county.

The group, which was founded in 2016, is made up of Hertfordshire’s 10 boroughs and districts, the county council, the Hertfordshire Constabulary, the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, Herts Fire & Rescue, the Environment Agency and the National Farmers Union.

Between April and October 2019, fly-tipping was slashed by 11 per cent in the county and if this trend continues Hertfordshire is on course for the second lowest level of reported fly-tipping since April 2012.

Duncan Jones, Chairman of the Hertfordshire Fly Tipping Group, said: “The national success of our fly-tipping campaign is a result of our successful partnership working to create this award-winning toolkit that can be easily adopted by all local authorities across the country.

"Our toolkit gives advice and guidance on how best to implement a fly tipping campaign including the best media channels and hard copy materials.

"The success of our approach saw fly-tipping across Hertfordshire, in 2017/18, reduced by 17.9 per cent compared to the previous 12 months”

74 local authorities have the toolkit and are due to roll it out in the next 12-18 months, with 53 more local authorities nationally in dialogue with the FTG with a view to coming on board with Hertfordshire’s campaign.

This makes over 190 local authorities nationally, which is potential coverage unrivalled by Defra, the Environment Agency and Keep Britain Tidy campaign.

David Rounding, waste enforcement officer for Buckinghamshire County Council, said: “Fly-tipping in Buckinghamshire rose steadily by the annual average of 14 per cent from 2012-2018.

"Bucks authorities adopted the Herts SCRAP fly-tipping branding in August 2018 and for the year 2018/19 recorded a fall in fly-tipping county-wide of over 11 per cent - the first in six years.

"Buckinghamshire authorities recognise the SCRAP fly-tipping messages as key to supporting the legitimate waste industry and reducing the business going to the waste crime sector.”