Charnwood Borough Council is backing a national campaign to protect residents from rogue waste traders who illegally dump rubbish in local communities. The Fight Fly-Tipping Fortnight campaign, run by Keep Britain Tidy, runs from 12–25 October 2026 and highlights how convincing online adverts and low-cost waste removal services can be linked to criminal operators.

The council cleared more than 1,000 fly-tips during 2025, amounting to over 500 tonnes of waste. Fly-tipping costs councils across England millions of pounds every year in clean-up costs.

Why this matters

Residents can face enforcement action if their waste is fly-tipped, not just the person who took it away. Cllr Beverley Gray, the Council's Lead Member for Climate Action and Net Zero, said: "Fly-tipping damages our communities, spoils local areas and creates unnecessary costs for taxpayers."

She added: "No-one wants to think that the individual or business they have paid to take away an old sofa, mattress or pile of household rubbish could simply dump it somewhere else in their community. But rogue waste traders are making money from doing exactly that."

How to protect yourself

Before handing over rubbish to anyone, residents should take three simple steps:

Ask to see a waste carrier licence. Check the registration on the Environment Agency's public register at https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers or call 0300 065 3000. Make sure you receive a receipt or written record of the transaction.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive Officer at Keep Britain Tidy, said: "What makes this particularly difficult is that criminals can be surprisingly hard to spot. A convincing advert, good reviews and a cheap price can make an illegal operator look like a legitimate business."

She added: "Our message is simple: don't fall for a #RubbishDeal. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

For more information about fly-tipping and how to report it, visit Charnwood Borough Council's designated webpage. Further information about the Fight Fly-Tipping Fortnight campaign is available at https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fight-fly-tipping-fortnight-2026.