Fly-Tipping in England Is Getting Worse: What the Latest Figures Tell Us

Fly-tipping is not a fringe problem. It is a growing, costly, and increasingly common issue affecting communities, councils, and legitimate waste businesses right across England. The latest figures from the government make for uncomfortable reading.

The Scale of the Problem

According to DEFRA's fly-tipping statistics for 2024/25, local authorities in England dealt with 1.26 million fly-tipping incidents in the last year. That is a 9% increase on the 1.15 million recorded the year before.

To put that in perspective, that is roughly one incident every 25 seconds, around the clock, every single day of the year.

The most common place for illegal dumping to occur was on highways, including pavements and roads, which accounted for 37% of all incidents. Footpaths and bridleways came next at 20%, followed by council land at 18%.

London had the highest rate of incidents per 1,000 people at 53, while the South West had the lowest at 9.

What Is Being Dumped

The majority of fly-tipped waste, 62% of all incidents, involves household waste. That includes everything from black bags left at the roadside to the results of house clearances, old furniture, carpets, and small-scale DIY projects gone wrong.

Construction and demolition waste accounted for 70,000 incidents, up 12% on the previous year. White goods, such as fridges and washing machines, featured in 60,000 incidents.

SKIP HIRE COMPARISON: We see more people using a skip or man with a van service as opposed to council collections or visits to household waste recycling centres (HWRC's) as the cost to get these collections from the council is increasing, closing the gap on these. But as the price increases, more people are choosing to dispose of in the worst way possible.

Why People Fly-Tip

The data does not tell us directly why people break the law, but it does give us strong clues. The most common size of fly-tip is equivalent to a small van load (31% of incidents), followed by a car boot or less (27%). These are not organised criminal operations. The majority are individuals or tradespeople making a decision, often a rushed one, to dump waste rather than dispose of it properly.

Cost and convenience are almost always at the root of it. When people do not know their options, or feel that proper disposal is too complicated or expensive, they make poor decisions. And those decisions have real consequences for communities and the environment.

SKIP HIRE COMPARISON: The problem with fly tipping is that it is directly proportionate to the cost of waste removal, as the prices go up, so does the amount of fly tipping, as councils start to increase prices, or limit visits to HWRC, the local area always sees an increase to fly tipping incidents. This is where councils need to step in to make sure the cost of waste disposal is affordable and not putting the pressure on small businesses or homeowners to just deal with ever-increasing costs.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

The enforcement picture tells its own story. Local authorities carried out 572,000 enforcement actions in 2024/25, an increase of 8% from the year before. Fixed penalty notices alone totalled 69,000, and the average fly-tipping FPN set by responding councils was £626, with some councils setting fines of £1,000 or more.

For larger incidents, involving tipper lorry loads or more, clearance costs alone reached £19.3 million across England in 2024/25.

When cases do reach court, the conviction rate is extraordinarily high. In 2024/25, 99.1% of prosecutions resulted in a conviction. So the risk of getting caught and punished is very real, even if enforcement is uneven across the country.

The message from councils and the courts is clear: fly-tipping is taken seriously, and the consequences can be significant.

The Duty of Care: What Homeowners and Businesses Need to Know

One figure in the data is particularly worth highlighting for anyone hiring a tradesperson or contractor. Local authorities issued fixed penalty notices specifically for breaches of the household waste duty of care, which holds householders responsible if they pass their waste to an unlicensed carrier who then dumps it illegally.

In other words, if you hire someone to take away your waste and they fly-tip it, you could face a fine too. The law requires you to check that anyone removing waste from your property is a registered waste carrier. You can verify this through the Environment Agency's public register.

SKIP HIRE COMPARISON: Since 2016, we have been registered as an official waste carrier for both England and Wales, and every Skip Company and Man with a Van we list is also registered as a waste carrier. This means every customer gets a waste disposal certificate after collection.

What the Right Approach Looks Like

For most household and renovation projects, a skip is the simplest and most responsible solution. It keeps waste contained, off the street, and disposed of legally by a licensed operator.

If you are unsure what size you need, our skip size guide covers everything from smaller 6-yard skips suitable for a bathroom clearance or garden tidy-up, through to larger 10-yard and 12-yard skips for bigger renovation jobs. If you need the skip placed on a public road rather than on your own driveway, you will also need a skip permit, which your supplier can usually arrange on your behalf.

Compare skip hire prices in your area and get an instant quote online. It takes a few minutes and means your waste is handled properly, by people who are licensed to do so.

SKIP HIRE COMPARISON: Our aim is to make the whole process of waste removal as simple as possible, whether that means booking a skip or same day collections.

Statistics sourced from DEFRA's Fly-tipping Statistics for England, 2024 to 2025.