Not only is fly tipping an unsightly problem in the UK, it is an extremely expensive one. In 2019 alone there were over a million fly tipping incidents, costing taxpayers nearly £60m to clean up.
During the last few weeks of lockdown, incidences of fly tipping have sadly spiked. The forced closure of many local authority tips is said to be one reason for this. For example, Wigan saw a 51% increase in fly tipping during lockdown and the council there has subsequently reopened their recycling centres to try to combat this.
Whilst enforcement and education are some of the ways to prevent fly tipping, recycling facilities offer vital innovation to help tackle the issue.
One of the most commonly fly tipped appliances in the UK are refrigerators. Around 4 million fridges are thrown away a year and a lot of those are unfortunately fly tipped, creating hazardous waste.
Electronics company AO Recycling invested £10m into their recycling plant in Shropshire, which specialises in breaking down old refrigerators. Recycling around 700K refrigeration products a year, the AO recycling plant is the only one in the UK that captures 100% of all harmful fridge gasses. AO will take any of their old purchased appliances away and recycle it for free.
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Extract from ITV Tonight Programme – 30th April 2020
