Don't get caught out by rogue carriers

Council investigations have found that rogue waste carriers – advertising themselves as a ‘man with a van’ on social media – are illegally taking residents’ waste and then fly-tipping it.

Fly-tipping costs North Lincolnshire Council tens of thousands of pounds to clear up every year. We actively investigate instances of fly-tipping to find evidence of who dumped the waste and who it originally belonged to, and then take legal action.

All residents and businesses have a legal responsibility to make sure their waste is disposed of correctly; if you let an unlicensed waste carrier take away your rubbish, you are breaking the law and may be liable to a fine and even a criminal record.

To avoid a fine or legal action, residents are advised to:

Check the person offering to take the waste is authorised to take it. Ask to see their registration or call the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506 to see if they are a registered waste carrier;

Ask the person where they are going to take the waste;

Refuse to hand over your waste and carry out more detailed checks if you suspect the waste is not being handled lawfully;

Call the council on 01724 297000 if you are unsure what to do.

North Lincolnshire Council has a number of on-going criminal investigations relating to residents paying unlicensed carriers to take their waste, which ended up being fly-tipped.

The council secured a prosecution against Thomas Baker of East Parade, Brigg for fly-tipping. Mr Baker was advertising his services as ‘a man with a van’ on Facebook. He took a number of residents’ money and rubbish and then dumped it at night down country roads and bridleways across North Lincolnshire.

Four residents who had paid Mr Baker to remove their rubbish were interviewed under caution as part of our investigation, and then issued with formal written cautions.

Councillor Richard Hannigan, cabinet member for Governance and Transformation, said: “If someone approaches you with a cut price quote to remove your rubbish, it can be tempting to take them up on their offer. However, if that person does not have a waste carriers licence, you are committing an offence and could find yourself slapped with a hefty fine and with a criminal record.

“If you do have excess waste you want to get rid of, the council runs Household Recycling Centres where much of your waste can be recycled. For larger items, we also offer residents a free bulky item collection every year.

“Make sure you check that anyone taking away your waste is licensed to do so. Remember, if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

You can find opening times and locations of the Household Recycling Centres and details of the bulky item collection service on our website at www.northlincs.gov.uk/waste.