Fly tipping, waste and recycling

1. Fly tipping, waste and recycling Tony Brooks Director Environment

2. Range of services • Waste collection - contract • Recycling advisers – targeted resource • Recycling centres (street and depot) • Area Enforcement Officers x 20 (26) • Housing wardens x 24 estate based and 6 mobile • Graffiti removal • Environmental Enforcement x 2 (5) • ASB team

3. Collections and recycling • Number of properties = 148,000 of which 125,000 non flats & 23,000 blocks of flats • Current value of Veolia contract =£15m pa • 2 weekly land fill collections • Alternate 2 weekly recycling • Weekly food waste • Seasonal garden waste • 3 household recycling centres • Numerous kerbside recycling centres • Bulky waste removal • Targeted recycling advice – 44% recycling rate

4. Street cleaning • 128 street sweepers • Range of streets swept daily, twice a day and weekly • £5m in contract for street sweeping • Fly tip removal – additional £200k

5. Fly tipping - what and where • Fly tip reports in the Borough remain high • 12/13 the total number recorded was 11150 • To 31/12/13 there have been 10,894 recorded. • Approximately 75% of all fly tips are in the north of Croydon. • The wards with the highest levels are West Thornton, Thornton Heath, Bensham Manor and Selhurst.

6. What have we done • The Council agreed a package of measures which includes various preventative and enforcement approaches; • Investment in additional CCTV • Surveillance and targeted patrols • Alley gate schemes • Recycling/waste advice and information • Assessments of bin provisions

7. Outcomes • No of FPNs for fly tipping issued = 50+ since November • No of prosecutions for serious fly tipping = 16 in progress • No of gates installed = 3 alley gate schemes being progressed • No of new cameras purchased  = 12 (1 overt and 11 covert) • No of existing cameras upgraded and redeployed = 13 • Trade Waste visits to businesses on Thornton Heath High Street and Brigstock Road and along the London Rd from West Croydon up to Norbury • Extensive resident engagement including door knocks and letter drops in 9 of the 15 hot spot locations

8. What next • Two large scale operations are planned. These will take place (tonight) Wed 12th February 6pm to 1am and Fri 7th March 6pm to 1am. • Two particular areas will be targeted – London Road from West Croydon to Norbury and Thornton Heath. 40 satff identifed to take part.  • The focus of the operations will be on identifying and enforcing against fly tipping and trade waste.  Hi Viz patrols, duty of care visits to businesses and surveillance of hotspots in these areas. • This will be a multi-agency operation and will include support from partners in Housing, Kingdom Security, Regulatory Services and the Police.

9. Case study 1 • Tylecroft Mews Action Plan • Problem. • Large amounts of fly tipping • Bins left on pavement (Highway obstruction) • No recycling taking place, flats above shops. • Insufficient Trade Waste Agreements (TWA) being used.

11. Action Plan. • Monitoring and surveillance carried out. • High Visibility patrolling on foot and in CCTV vehicle. • Investigating of fly tips, lead to several FPN’s being issued. • Removal of euro bins (communal), replaced with individual wheelie bins. • Leaflet drop to flats, houses and businesses in the locality, including bulky waste leaflets. • Trade waste inspections carried out, warnings issued where needed and agreements corrected where needed. • Residents In the locality educated on recycling. • Close working with contractor to keep highways/ footpaths clear of all obstructions • Instructed Emergency Response Team to erect a fly tipping sign.

13. Case study 2 • Zion Place, Thornton Heath • constant fly tipping and storage of wheelie bins on the footway by some properties made this area look untidy. • The residents had been storing the bins on the footway because the designated bin area at the side of 353 Whitehorse Road was being used as a fly tipping site. • This led to an escalation in complaints from both local residents and pedestrians.

14. Action plan • Owner of private land contacted and AEO team worked with them to fence off the area to stop it being used for fly tipping. • The waste was cleared once the contractors arrived on site to start the work. An eight foot high barrier was erected to stop future fly tips • AEO’s carried out covert surveillance over a number of days and issued fixed penalty notice to fly tippers. • The residents of 351 Whitehorse road, which junctions with Zion Place then started using the forecourt for waste storage, rather than the wheelie bins in the new secured area. • AEO’s issued management agents a Sec 215 notice which demanded they arrange clearance of the site within 7 day or face enforcement action. Work started 3 days later to clear the site • A letter drop took place of Zion Place highlighting the AEO work in the area, how to report fly tips to the Council and detailing the various ways they can dispose of their waste. Additional recycling boxes were provided to those who requested them.Monitoring is now ongoing to ensure the area stays clean.