Fly tipping

Fly-tipping is an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA). If you are caught fly-tipping, or evidence which relates to your address is found within the fly-tipping itself, you can be issued with a £600 Fixed Penalty Notice.

If you are prosecuted in the Magistrates Court, you could be liable to a maximum of 12 months in custody and/or a maximum fine of £50,000. If your case is prosecuted in the Crown Court, you could be liable to an unlimited fine and a maximum of 5 years in custody.

What is fly tipping?

Fly tipping is the illegal deposit of waste and a criminal offence. The types of waste fly tipped range from ‘black bag’ waste to larger deposits of materials such as industrial waste, tyres, construction material and liquid waste.

As a resident of Solihull, you have a legal duty of care to make sure that your waste is only collected and disposed by a registered waste carrier. Check registered waste carriers.

Unlicensed carriers may be tempted to fly-tip your waste to avoid charges for proper disposal. If fly tipped waste is tracked back to you, you could be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £600 or face prosecution.

I’ve witnessed someone fly tipping what should I do?

If you witness waste being illegally deposited it is important that you report it to us so we can investigate and take action against the offender where possible. 

Please let us know:

  • Location
  • Time and date when fly tipping took place
  • Description of the fly tipped waste
  • Identity of alleged offender (address and name if possible)
  • Vehicle registration details ( you may have witnessed an alleged offender depositing waste from a vehicle)
  • Any other information you consider to be helpful

If you have witnessed a fly tip taking place please let us know by calling 0121 704 8000.

Report fly tipping

The council has a responsibility for acting on reports of fly tipping to both remove the waste and to locate and prosecute the offenders. Where waste is hazardous the council has a responsibility to ensure public safety until such time as the waste can be removed.

Report fly tipping

Report an abandoned shopping trolley

You can let us know about an abandoned shopping trolley and we'll pass the information on to Trolleywise.

Report an abandoned shopping trolley

You can also contact Trolleywise directly about an abandoned shopping trolley by calling 0800 316 1241 or email trolleywise@wanzl.co.uk.

FAQS

Fly-tipping is an offence under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If you are caught fly-tipping, or evidence which relates to your address is found within the fly-tipping itself, you will be issued with a £600 Fixed Penalty Notice. Failure to pay the fine may result in prosecution.

The Council is unable to deal with any fly-tipping on private land. Unfortunately, it remains the responsibility of the land owner to remove the fly-tipped items. However, there are other agencies available, such as The Police or the Environment Agency, who will assist with bringing the culprits to account.

If you are having a new kitchen or bathroom, take a moment to think about how you are going to dispose of the waste before you get started. You could hire a skip or alternatively take your waste to the  Household Waste Recycling Centre.

If you employ a company, make sure they are disposing of the waste correctly. By law householders are responsible for checking that contractors are correctly disposing of waste. Ask to see a waste transfer certificate/licence. Check the company is registered on the Environment Agency’s Public Register.

If you are a householder, you are required to take reasonable steps to check that people removing waste from your premises are authorised to do so.