It’s a crime not to care about your waste.
The Isle of Wight Council is reminding residents that it is their responsibility to dispose of waste correctly, even if they have paid someone else to take away the material.
The warning comes after new figures reveal the council dealt with 920 fly-tipping incidents in 2022/23, compared to 855 during the previous year.
Of this, 324 were household black waste bags left on the highway, compared to 259 in the same period over 2021/22.
Lucioni:
Councillor Karen Lucioni, Cabinet lead for waste, said,
“Many people don’t realise that household waste not contained in the black wheeled bin or black gull-sack is deemed as fly-tip.
“We have some brilliant fly-tip volunteer groups working tirelessly in the community, but we can all play a part in keeping our beautiful Island free from litter.
“If you are out walking the dog or stopping in the park for a snack, make sure your poo bags and food wrappers go in a bin and keep plastic drink bottles to dispose of in your recycling kerbside collection.
“If the public bin is full do not leave by the side or on top, take it to another bin or take it home and place in your household waste or recycling bins. Keeping the environment clean is all our responsibility.”
Many people are not aware that as per government legislation, the council can issue fixed penalties when householders do not follow waste collection rules.
More information is available on the Website.
Rules on when to put rubbish out
Under the council’s waste and recycling collection rules, waste or recycling must be at the kerbside, communal bin store, or agreed collection point by 7am on your collection day.
You can put your recycling or waste out the evening before, but only after 7pm.
Bins or sacks must be brought back onto your property by 10pm on the day of collection. Any waste left outside of these times could be deemed as fly-tip.
Dix: Anyone caught fly-tipping could be ordered to pay a fine
Natasha Dix, strategic manager for environment and waste, said,
“Fly-tipping can be classed as anything from one bag of household rubbish to several van loads of construction material.
“If it is dumped on land that doesn’t have a licence to accept waste, it is fly-tipping and it is illegal. The same goes for waste left out by residents on the pavement outside of the times mentioned above.
“Anyone caught fly-tipping could be ordered to pay a fine or the case could even end up in court – where penalties could be an unlimited fine or imprisonment.
“We know our Island is beautiful, but we need your help to keep it that way.”
Hire a licensed waste carrier
If residents have larger waste loads to dispose of, they can hire a licensed waste carrier to take the rubbish away, or they can use the council’s own bulky waste collection service.
Passing the disposal job onto another individual or firm is no excuse and it is the responsibility of the householder to ensure they have taken steps to ensure the waste disposal is legal.
- If using a waste company to remove waste from your property, check they are registered waste carriers. They should have a copy of their registration documents on them. You can also check their licence number by calling 03708 506506 and the Environment Agency can check for you.
- Get a written receipt or transfer note showing their contact details, a description of your waste and details of where they are taking it.
- Note down the make, colour and registration number of the vehicle that’s taking your waste away.
If you have extra waste
There may be times you have an extra bag of general waste that does not fit in your bin.
If this is the case, you should not leave it outside your property. If you do, you could get a fine.
Household Waste and Recycling Centres
You must take it back on to your property until your next collection day. You could also take it to either Lynnbottom or Afton Marsh Household Waste and Recycling Centres.
News shared by Isle of Wight council press office, in their own words. Ed
Image: For illustrative purposes only dominicspics under CC BY 2.0
