EPA waste tip-off phoneline receives 2,184 calls

The Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘Dump the Dumpers’ phoneline had 2,184 calls in its first year of operation, the agency said yesterday.

Fly-tipping and burning of waste accounted for 75% of the calls received, with 522 complaints made in Dublin, 349 in Wicklow and 266 in Cork.

The phoneline — 1850 365 121 — was made operational on June 28, 2006, initially for a six-month period in response to the high levels of waste being dumped around the country, particularly in Border areas. Large amounts were also being transported into the North. That upsurge was blamed on the increase in the cost of legal dumping in this country.