Litter and fly tipping

Different areas different mentalities.

We a have a piece of land that slopes steeply  between 2 roads near me regularly locals dump grass cuttings, hedge clippings, Christmas trees etc, but more recently I've seen it used to dump old bikes, Prams/pushchairs and even a 3 piece suite, the culprits either don't realise that such activities add to everyone's council tax or they just don't care.

20 years ago if I had any rubbish I'd take it to the tip. I didn't need to make an appointment. I didn't need to take my driving licence. I didn't need to pay for the odd bit of plasterboard or bathroom tile. I could use any tip I liked in any borough. I didn't need to drive round the site several times as I unloaded different materials into different containers.

In my view, only the last of those is probably acceptable as we move to recycling.

All of them contribute severely to the likelihood of someone dumping a couple of bags of rubble or rubbish and/or paying someone unlicenced to take it away (and dump it on mass for them).

a complaint - or set of complaints - that is often made on the local social media. And frankly, I think none of the most frequent moans stand up to any real scrutiny or analysis. Fly tipping is a real scourge. But at its root is anti-social behaviours and selfishness: the idea that my **** is someone else's problem not mine. 

1. Appointments. Are people really so lazy or entitled that they think making an appointment in advance is such a chore? Or that they should have the right to turn up at any time ? The reality here is that appointments are freely available and easily booked. I just checked, at 20:35 on a Saturday. I can book every half hour time slot from 08:00 to 18:30 for tomorrow, Sunday. One of the busiest days for residents to go to the tip. And typically you can book during the day for about 2-3 hours ahead. Certainly half a day ahead. And that has been true ever since the major covid restrictions were lifted. Of course it was different during Covid, but everything was different. 

Why on earth would anyone want to have the "privilege" to go to the tip on a whim to sit in a Queue for half an hour (with their engine idling over) in preference to booking a slot and having no more than a few minutes queuing. And even if they do prefer, why should it be indulged and treated as if its some form of right? 

2. Proving you are a resident. Ok, it might be a little bit of a pain. But it doesn't need to be a driving license. Its some proof of address. I mean what is the big deal ? Most people I know have a DL with them permanently anyway? Are we believing that people are not booking and going to the tip because taking proof of address is too much hassle? ?

3. Need to pay for the odd bit of plasterboard or bathroom tile. This is the one bit I think might actually trigger someone to dump. But you still have to be a selfish entitled **** who thinks its OK to dump your **** into the environment before you'd do it. And anyway, charges were removed, nationally, from start of January (and I think since December last year in this locale*). 

The issue with fly tipping is:
- People who simply can't be a****d to go to the tip, possibly because they think its too much effort to spend 60 seconds booking a slot
- People who don't have transport, nor sense of good neighbour behaviour, and will get someone to take their stuff as long as its at the cheapest possible price. Knowing full well, and not caring, it will be driven 2 miles and dumped in a lane. Or simply drag their old sofa out the house and leave it in a street just because why wouldn't you?
- "commercial" people who will fly tip to avoid commercial tip fees. Oh, and also their anti social customers who don't care to check they have a waste license etc., because they don't care as long as its dumped on someone else's doorstep and the job is at the cheapest possible price. 

Fly tipping makes me angry. Making excuses/justifications for what is fundamentally selfish anti social behaviour makes me just as angry. 

*up to 100 litres of DIY waste in any single visit, and up to 4 such drops in any 4 week period. 

Reputable tradespeople are not going to fly tip, in the most part. Its the disreputable who will. And I'd surmise the disreputable are also 'incentivised' to fly tip simply because often it is going to be easier and quicker than going to a waste disposal centre. So while commercial charges might be a trigger for some fly tipping, I'm unconvinced as to how much difference it makes. 

Bottom line is that central government lays down significant charges for landfill. Councils therefore need to cover that. Logically, it is perfectly sane that commercial entities should be paying those charges and passing them on. It is not unreasonable that for an end customer part of the cost of say having your bathroom ripped out and replaced is the cost borne by society to dispose of your old one. Why should that specific element of the job be free at the "point of use". Your new bathroom isn't, so why is getting rid of your old one ?

Of course, if the evidence really is that one thing is triggering another, and that the overall cost / benefit points to a different model, then fine. But I'd suggest that ought to be on the back of proper evidence, not 'gut feel'. 

A while back I was helping a fellow allotment holder take down a damaged greenhouse, where did I get told to put it by the guys at the tip, yep it went in landfill as there is no way to put anything bigger than a bottle into the glass recycling container, another stupidity is you cant put broken glass into home glass recycling despite the fact that you hear it smash as they tip it into the truck