A business owner in Thornton Heath, England, was fined £8,000 (over $10,700) for fly-tipping, or illegal waste dumping, of building materials, as Your Local Guardian reported.
Fly-tipping is the British term for the act of illegally dumping waste on public properties, such as roads, fields, and water sources. Instead of referring to the insects, the term came about from "tipping" unwanted items out "on the fly," per the BBC.
Muhammad Ali, a 46-year-old man from Thornton Heath, was fined the hefty sum earlier this August for an incident of fly-tipping in August 2023, per the Guardian. A Croydon Councillor found renovation waste on a green space that was tied back to ongoing building at Ali's business. Croydon Magistrates' Court ordered him to pay a total of £7,951.71.
"Fly-tipping is a blight on our borough," said Jason Perry, executive mayor of Croydon, per the Guardian. "It makes our streets look uncared for, it damages the environment, and it costs thousands of pounds in council resources to clear. This court case shows that if you dump waste in Croydon, you will be held responsible and you will face the full weight of the law."
According to the Guardian, Croydon is pushing campaigns to stop fly-tipping and other harmful acts to "restore pride in Croydon."
"Whether it's abandoned cars, selling illegal tobacco products or fly-tipping, we won't tolerate this behaviour in Croydon, and we will make those responsible pay for their actions," Perry said.
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There is an estimated 100 million tons of illegally dumped waste in the world. Illegally dumped trash can be harmful to our environment, especially if it is dumped in or near water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, waste in the water can be dangerous to fish and wildlife and pollute our drinking water. Waste can also contaminate soil, increase the spread of invasive plants, and even pollute our food, per Dumpsters.com.
Additionally, waste can also increase the risk of natural disasters. Waste can be highly flammable, leading to wildfires. It can also block water pathways and lead to floods.
Fines like this one can help prevent other forms of dumping, or fly-tipping. Across the world, local governments have been pushing fines to stop forms of dumping. In Wales, a man was fined £2,270 (over $3,000) for dumping in a forest.
On a larger scale, fast fashion company Shein was fined $1.16 million for lying about its eco-friendly products, while a shipping company in Sri Lanka was fined $1 billion for a marine plastic spill in the Indian Ocean.
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