51,700 complaints but few prosecutions for dumping

Local authorities are being swamped by complaints of illegal dumping of waste, while the number of prosecutions for fly-tipping and other offences remains low.

The Environmental Protection Agency said local authorities directly received 50,000 complaints in 2012, in addition to the 1,700 diverted to it from the EPA’s own 24-hour National Environmental Complaints Line.

The vast majority (95%) of calls to the NECL relate to waste issues, with 47% of the complaints received for fly-tipping, while 18% of calls related to larger scale dumping of amounts greater than 20 bags of rubbish.