Monmouthshire County Council has been shelling out thousands to deal with fly-tipping, as the problem worsens across Wales, it has emerged.

Figures released last week show councils in south east Wales spent over £435,000 last year clearing up rubbish dumped by unscrupulous residents.

Over a third of that figure was racked up by neighbouring council, Caerphilly, which spent over £150,000 trying to tackle the issue.

Mohammad Asghar, AM for South East Wales, said local authorities need backing from Welsh Government to address the problem.

“Last year, Councils in South East Wales spent over four hundred and thirty five thousand pounds clearing up the consequences of this anti-social behaviour at a time when their budgets are hard pressed.”

“The Welsh Government must ensure local authorities in Wales have a coherent strategy to combat fly tipping in Wales.”

Donna Littlechild, at Natural Resources Wales, said, “Each year 42,000 tonnes of fly-tipping is reported in Wales. It costs the Welsh taxpayer more than £2.1 million a year to clear up. 

“We’ve received 18 reports of fly-tipping in Monmouthshire since April 2016, which has cost us thousands of pounds to investigate and deal with. 

“Fly-tipping is a blight on our towns and countryside, and can damage natural habitats. If caught you could face fines of up to £50,000 or imprisonment.

However, Monmouthshire County Council showed one of the nation’s best performances, spending an estimated £13,000 a year on cleaning up rubbish dumped along roads and public spaces.

A council spokesman told the Chronicle putting a clear figure on the costs of fly-tipping was difficult due to how the data is collected.

“The council collects fly-tipped rubbish in conjunction with carrying out other operations.  This is an efficient way of dealing with the consequences of this anti-social behaviour but it is difficult to apportion its costs,” he said.

Although councils across the region have seen fly-tipping costs rise over the last year, Carl Touhig, at MCC said incidents fell far below that of neighbouring counties. The recycling manager said, “We’re very fortunate in Monmouthshire that our residents hold the environment in high esteem.

“We record approximately 400 incidences each year, well below the national average, so our costs are naturally lower.

“We focus on searching fly-tipped waste and removing it within five working days to keep our communities clean and green.”

Becky Favager, waste and resources manager for Natural Resources Wales, said the issue was compounded by firms flouting the law whilst acting as scrupulous waste managers.

“It is vital that businesses are aware of their responsibilities and potential liabilities when it comes to waste management and waste crime.  Understanding and complying with the Duty of Care is key to stopping waste getting into the hands of illegal waste operators and can result in public money being saved, less damage to the environment and protection for operators who do comply with the law.

“The ‘Right Waste, right Place’ website provides easy to follow advice and guidance in Welsh and English to help businesses achieve compliance.” 

Sam Corp, head of regulation at the Environmental Services Association, said tackling the blight of fly-tipping was pinned upon businesses working with local groups.

“Waste crime is not victimless. Dealing with the results is costing taxpayers millions of pounds each year and waste criminals can harm the environment and put local communities in danger.  By not complying, local businesses could well be helping facilitate such crime by not ensuring waste is disposed of safely. 

He added that a campaign to drum up interest was underway to help ease the growing burden.

“The ‘Right Waste, Right Place’ campaign is here to help.  Small business owners are often stretched, multi-tasking and under pressure.  Our campaign provides valuable and easy-to-understand materials that will help them put good practices in place that protect them from breaking the law.”

Amy Bainton, a spokeswoman for FSB Wales, said the dumping of rubbish not only blighted the landscape, but hurt the local economy.

“Fly-tipping is an illegal practice and a blight on communities. Small businesses, residents and local authorities should work together to ensure that any such instances are reported and cleared as quickly as possible.”