AnyJunk: Councils spend too much on fly-tipping

Local councils are spending too much to clear up after fly-tippers, according to rubbish clearance company AnyJunk.

“In the current economic climate councils need to urgently review their rubbish removal contracts and costs,” said Jason Mohr, who founded AnyJunk in 2004.

“Council taxpayers should be encouraged to shop the illegal fly-tippers who are costing the country £65 million every year.

“The national average cost of clearing-up after each incidence of fly-tipping is £48. Quite frankly, any council paying more than £100 is wasting money.”

AnyJunk has carried out a survey - using official figures obtained from councils under the Freedom of Information Act - to study illegal tipping in council boroughs across the UK earlier this year. The survey discovered that South Buckinghamshire was paying £150 on clearing up after each incident of fly-tipping. Northumberland, Chelmsford and Barnsley councils were all paying over £100.

He said: “In a bid to understand the extent of fly-tipping and put the problem into some kind of context, we gathered figures reporting the total number of fly-tipping incidents from councils across the country and cross-referenced them with the population figures of each council – and the results are pretty alarming.”

Mohr said that AnyJunk could offer councils all over Britain clear-up service contracts for £45 per incident: “Fly-tipping clearance contracts could easily be carved out of a council’s overall waste contracts but obviously there would have to be separate provision for hazardous waste disposal.

“AnyJunk is happy to work with councils to help them identify how they could reduce their costs.”