'Reckless' fly-tippers fined over £3,000 by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council
'Reckless' fly-tippers in Rhondda Cynon Taf have been slapped with thousands of pounds worth of fines.
Seven individuals over the past month have been held accountable in court for their actions, which includes leaving rubbish strewn over public highways.
This acts as a reminder from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, it says, that residents have a duty of care to dispose of their waste "appropriately" and to ensure that items are "disposed of correctly."
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council have warned that a failure to do this, could end up "costing you a lot more than travelling a few miles to the nearest local community recycling centre."
The actions by the fined individuals included placing items over their garden wall, leaving items strewn across the public highways for weeks, dumping items outside a closed Community Recycling Centre and asking an unregistered business to dispose of waste – which was later fly-tipped.
Section 33(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out the offence of fly tipping describing it as the “illegal deposit of any waste onto land that does not have a licence to accept it”.
According to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council: "Tipping, dropping litter or allowing your dog to foul in a public place will not be tolerated in Rhondda Cynon Taf and, as these latest cases show, the Council will use all its available powers to catch those responsible for blighting its towns and countryside."
As well as carrying out routine checks around the county and responding to the reports it receives, the Council has a number of covert, roaming cameras placed in key locations to catch offenders "red-handed".
The Council also runs weekly, unlimited, kerbside dry food waste and nappy recycling services, and a number of community recycling centres across the borough in order to encourage rubbish disposal and prevent fly-tipping.
Councillor Ann Crimmings, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Leisure and Heritage Services, said: “Fly-tipping in our County Borough will not be tolerated, there is never an excuse to blight our towns, streets and villages with your waste and we will find those responsible and hold them to account.
"As these cases highlight, we investigate all reports of fly-tipping and we will unravel all the details as these offenders have found out.
"Removal of fly-tipping in our County Borough costs hundreds of thousands of pounds - which could be spent on key front-line services.
“We will use every power we have available to us, to hold those accountable for their actions.
"Many of the items we recover on our streets, towns and mountains are items that could have been taken to a Community Recycling Centre or even collected from the kerbside - at no extra cost.”
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