YOUR RUBBISH & THE LAW
Certain bodies have a legal duty to clear litter and refuse from places they are directly responsible for, and which are accessible by the public, such as streets, parks, playgrounds, tourist beaches and pedestrianised areas. Duty bodies include Crown Authorities (royal parks), principal litter authorities (local authorities), governing bodies of designated educational institutions (including schools, colleges and universities),designated statutory undertakers such as transport companies, train and tram operators, airports and port and harbour authorities. This is a statutory duty under s.89 of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990.
A code of practice on Litter and Refuse is also issued under s.89 of the 1990 act to require that the ‘cleansing duty’ is carried out to certain specified standards.
If a piece of private land is littered, the occupier or owner should accept responsibility for clearing the litter. Local authorities can issue a litter clearing notice to require that an occupier or owner keeps their land clear of litter and refuse. Some local authorities have a dedicated phone line for members of the public to report litter and waste. Otherwise it is usually the cleansing, environmental or technical services department that should be contacted.
Litter prosecutions
The total number of fixed penalty notices issued for litter rose by 32% between 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 – from 33,033 to 43,624. Over this period the number of payments arising from fixed penalty notices for litter rose by 49% – from 18,002 in 2005-2006 to 26,818 in 2006-2007.
Legal definition of litter
Litter is most commonly assumed to include materials often associated with smoking, eating and drinking, including chewing gum, that are improperly discarded and left by members of the public; or are spilt during business operations, as well as waste management operations. As a guideline a single plastic sack of rubbish should usually be considered fly-tipping rather than litter. The offence of Leaving Litter (s.87 of the EPA 1990) is any incident where a person throws down, drops or otherwise deposits any litter in any place in the area of a principal litter authority, to which the public has access, with or without payment, and leaves it.
Public attitudes to litter
Most of the population voice their disgust at seeing litter in the streets, but research by ENCAMS (2006) showed that nearly half of the general population admitted to dropping litter. Despite the fact that all of the people who took part in this research admitted to dropping litter, they blamed the litter problem on teenagers and school children. People thought that some forms of litter were more acceptable than others – they said it was okay to drop apple cores because they broke down into the environment.
Glass bottles, dog excrement and clinical waste, on the other hand, were considered not okay because they posed a threat to public health.
The research by ENCAMS found that between 2001 and 2006 there had been a significant change in people’s attitudes towards litter. In 2001, dog owners did not clean up after their pets fouled in a public place. Six years later not cleaning up after a dog had become socially unacceptable behavior. There was also more awareness about litter in 2006 than in 2001. More people felt guilty about dropping litter and were more likely to notice and talk about the two biggest components of litter: smokers’ materials and chewing gum.
Responsibilities for Businesses
Litter-free areas
Where a litter problem can be clearly traced to certain types of business, such as ‘food on the go’ establishments, mobile vendors or market stalls, a local authority can issue a street litter control notice. This can be used to compel the occupier, or the owner of business or retail premises, to clear up litter and implement measures to prevent the land from becoming defaced again. Street litter control notices are issued under s.93 and s.94 of the EPA 1990.
Local authorities are allowed to issue a fixed penalty notice to any person who has not complied with a street litter control notice. Defra has produced a voluntary code of practice for reducing litter caused by ‘food on the go’ which sets out recommendations to help businesses, local authorities and other land owners or occupiers to work together to resolve the problems.
Pre-treatment of waste
Under the landfill regulations introduced in 2002 certain wastes such as tyres (whole or shredded) and infectious clinical wastes from hospitals, medical or veterinary establishments are banned from landfill. Wastes that are explosive, corrosive, flammable or oxidising are also banned, as are new or unidentified chemical substances whose effects on man and the environment are unknown.
Treatment of waste
Under the landfill regulations introduced in 2002 certain wastes such as tyres (whole or shredded) and infectious clinical wastes from hospitals, medical or veterinary establishments are banned from landfill. Wastes that are explosive, corrosive, flammable or oxidising are also banned, as are new or unidentified chemical substances whose effects on man and the environment are unknown. From 30 October 2007 all liquid waste is banned from landfill, and all non-hazardous and inert waste has to be treated before it can be sent there. For general waste this means that a proportion of each waste stream should be separated for recycling or it must go through a sorting facility.
The Environment Agency recommends that you produce a written declaration that states:
- Who has treated the waste
- The type of treatment that has occurred (if any)
- The amount of waste that has been sorted out for recovery or alternative treatment (if relevant)
The Environment Agency also recommends that you should include the declaration with your waste transfer note, and keep a copy with your waste transfer records. At the moment the obligation not to accept untreated waste or questionable loads rests with the landfill operator and it is they who should notify the Environment Agency of businesses who persistently fail to pre-treat their waste.
The Environment Agency will not take enforcement action against a business unless there is a risk to the environment or to human health. However, they want businesses to:
- Think about what happens to their waste
- Consider the different treatment and disposal options
- Boost the recovery and recycling of waste
Removal of shopping trolleys
A local authority can charge the owner of abandoned shopping and luggage trolleys for their removal, storage and disposal. In any court proceedings it is a defence for a person to prove that they were not the owner of the trolley at the time it was removed. and fast food litter were found to be on the increase.
The Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990 The EPA 1990 imposes duties on certain landowners and occupiers to keep specified land clear of litter and refuse, and also upon local authorities and the secretary of state to keep clean public highways. Updates to the act were made in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (CNEA) 2005, which generally extended the range of enforcement powers for local authorities to deal with problems affecting the quality and appearance of the local environment.
Duty of care on waste for businesses
The duty of care regulations explain s.34 of the EPA 1990, which imposes a legal duty on businesses to take all reasonable steps to keep waste safe whilst it is in their possession. It also requires businesses to make sure they only pass waste on to an authorised person in order to dispose of it correctly.
Duty of care – Section 34 (1)
It shall be the duty of any person who produces, keeps or disposes of controlled waste:
a) To prevent any contravention by any other person of s.33
b) To prevent the escape of waste from their control
Controlled waste includes commercial and industrial waste. You must package the waste in suitable containers so that it cannot fall out, blow away or escape from the receptacle. You must secure the waste against unauthorised removal as far as is reasonably practical. Security should be sufficient to prevent the breaking open of containers and removal of waste by vandals, thieves, animals, accident or weather.
Duty of Care – Section 34 (1)(c)
It shall be the duty of any person on the transfer of the waste, to secure that the transfer is only to an authorised person. You must ensure that the person removing your waste is either from a local authority or a licensed waste collection company. You are responsible for ensuring that your waste is disposed of properly and must ask for proof of registration from your waste contractor. If in doubt, check with the Environment Agency or your local authority about licensed waste contractors in your area. (Householders also have a duty of care to ensure that their domestic waste is being collected and disposed of by an authorised person.)
Littering Section 87 (1)
Environmental Protection Act 1990
A person is guilty of an offence if he throws down, drops or otherwise deposits any litter in any place in the area of a principal litter authority which is open to the air on at least one side and to which the public have access with or without payment. It is immaterial whether the litter is deposited on land or in water.
Littering is not just an offence in public places such as shopping and recreation areas, pavements, public spaces and car parks, but also forms an offence on any private land, as well as land covered by water, as long as it is open to the air. An authorised officer of a local authority can issue a fixed penalty notice for a litter offence as an alternative to prosecution. This will be £75 unless another amount is set locally. Any person found guilty of the litter offence in a court of law may be fined up to £2,500 for each offence.
Summary of Powers to Tackle Litter and Refuse on Private Land Sections 92A-C, including 94A Environmental Protection Act 1990
Local authorities have the power to issue a litter clearing notice which requires occupiers or land owners to keep their property clear of litter and refuse. Land must be restored within a minimum of 28 days to a standard specified by the local authority under the terms of the notice. It may also specify requirements to prevent the land from becoming defaced again. Failure to comply with a notice is an offence – the local authority can clean up the land and recharge the costs, and the offender could face a fine of up to level 4 on the standard scale or £2,500.
Section 59
Environmental Protection Act 1990
Provides powers for waste regulation authorities and waste collection authorities to require the removal of waste unlawfully and knowingly deposited. If the occupier or owner fails to comply the authority can enter the land, remove the waste and recover the costs from the occupier.
Part III (Statutory Nuisance)
Environmental Protection Act 1990
District councils can serve an abatement notice if an accumulation or deposit is considered to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance. Reasonable costs can be recovered. Inert material, however, would not be categorised as a statutory nuisance.
Section 215
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
Allows an authority to serve a notice on the owners and occupiers of land, requiring the site to be tidied up if the condition of any land is in such a state as to adversely affect the amenity of the neighborhood.
Section 22 (3)
Control of Pollution Act 1974
Provides a power to district councils to arrange, with the agreement of the person owning or occupying the land, for the cleaning of land in the open air (other than a highway) to which the public has access. Charges will be paid by the owner or occupier.
Section 78
Public Health Act 1936
Provides powers for district councils to sweep and cleanse any court, yard or passage which is used in common by the occupants of two or more buildings (but is not a highway repairable by the inhabitants at large) and which is not regularly swept and kept clean to the satisfaction of the authority. The council may recover reasonable expensesfrom the occupiers of the buildings.
Section 34
Public Health Act 1961
Provides a power to remove from any land in the open air any rubbish that is seriously detrimental to the amenity of the neighbourhood. Rubbish is defined as including rubble, waste, paper, crockery and metal.
Section 6
Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978
Gives district councils the powers to remove from land open to the air or on a highway any thing that has been abandoned without lawful authority. If the land is occupied, the council must give notice of their intention to remove. Costs can be recovered from the person leaving the refuse or a person knowingly permitting it.
Section 4
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949
A local authority can serve a notice requiring an owner to remove, at their own expense, accumulated waste where damage by pests is likely to occur. Costs can be recovered should the council have to remove it.
