People who illegally dump waste have no soul and no moral compass about what is right or wrong, according to an Environment Agency (EA) spokesperson.
The comments come in response to a series of fly-tipping incidents in the Guildford area, where the total amount of waste dumped over the past week amounts to 60 tonnes – the equivalent of 2.7 humpback whales, according to reports by Surrey Live.
The most recent fly-tip, on an emergency access road just after the southbound Burpham exit from the A3, is the heaviest so far, weighing 40 tonnes.
A spokesperson for the agency said: “People who illegally dump rubbish anywhere, never mind across the Surrey countryside, have no soul; no moral compass about what is right or wrong. They are purely motivated by greed and self-interest.
EA – “People who illegally dump rubbish anywhere, never mind across the Surrey countryside, have no soul; no moral compass about what is right or wrong. They are purely motivated by greed and self-interest.”
“This isn’t someone dropping a couple of bin bags. It’s serious organised crime. What Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan has called the new narcotics.
“We have launched an investigation into the incidents in the past week at West Horsley, Burnt Common and now Burpham, where an estimated 80 tonnes of waste has been unloaded from lorries.
“With the public’s help, and our own intelligence, we will catch these criminals, and do everything in our power to prosecute them.”
The waste is believed to have been dumped overnight between Saturday and Sunday (March 30 and 31). Previous tips were left at the entrance to some woodland near West Horsley on the night of March 26 and in London Road, outside Ripley, on the night of March 27.
All three are being investigated by the Environment Agency, which suspects the fly-tips are linked and has suggested the waste may have been unloaded from grab lorries.
Fly-Tipping In England
Local authorities in England dealt with just under 1 million (998,000) fly-tipping incidents for the 2017/18 year, a slight decrease of 1% from the 1,011,000 reported in 2016/17, following annual increases since 2013/14, according to the latest figures released in November (2018).
Two thirds (66%) of fly-tips involved household waste. Total incidents involving household waste decreased by 4% from 2016/17.
Local authorities carried out 494,000 enforcement actions in 2017/18, an increase of 18,000 actions (4%) from 2016/17.
The Furniture Recycling Group (FRG) in January released research that revealed the top five cities in England for number of fly-tipping incidents:
- London – 366,087 fly-tipping incidents over the last five years
- Manchester – 91,115 fly-tipping incidents over the last five years
- Liverpool – 74,909 fly-tipping incidents over the last five years
- Birmingham – 57,536 fly-tipping incidents over the last five years
- Leeds – 56,392 fly-tipping incidents over the last five years
