Fight illegal dumping of rubbish

It is rare that one will travel down a country road these days without spotting little plastic bags of rubbish lying in the ditches.  This is the tip of the iceberg in the illegal dumping of rubbish that is increasingly blighting our countryside.

Cork County Council has been reasonably proactive in trying to identify offenders.  It liaises with the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement network, it has been using BIGbins in key locations and it has used a helicopter to identify some unauthorized dumping facilities.  But the problem continues.

The increase in dumping is generally associated with the national economic downturn.  But it was also at this time (2009) that Cork County Council introduced stiff charges at the gates of its Civic Amenity Sites.  That this resulted in an increase in fly tipping is no coincidence.  The continued imposition of current charges to use Civic Amenity Sites, particularly for recyclable goods is a disincentive to proper waste management.  However much it is costing to run the Civic Amenity Sites, it must surely cost a great deal more to chase the offenders dumping on our countryside.  It is time a new and accessible approach to sustainable waste management is introduced.