Leaving waste, recycling or bulky items anywhere other than inside the appropriate bin - with no intention of removing them - is considered fly-tipping, which is a criminal offence. It may also be seen as a breach of someone's tenancy agreement or lease.
We’ll usually be the lead agency to investigate and address reports of fly-tipping on our land but we work closely with other agencies, such as local authorities, as they have the power to issue fixed penalty notices, Community Protection Warnings/Notices and to prosecute perpetrators of fly-tipping.
What you can do
To make sure that your home and neighbourhood is safe and enjoyable to live in, we ask everyone to take the following actions.
- Place all rubbish or waste in the correct bin. Please be aware that items on the floor won’t be collected by the rubbish and refuse teams, resulting in extra removal and disposal costs.
- Recycle all recyclable items to make sure there’s enough space and capacity in bins.
- Report misuse of the bin store, by customers or members of the public, to SNG.
- Report missed collections to your local council.
- Reduce service charge costs – don’t leave items on the floor and dispose of large items or excess waste at your local recycling centre.
- If you are paying someone to dispose of these items for you, make sure they are licensed to do so.
- Sell or donate unwanted items to charity shops or through online marketplaces, such as eBay or Facebook.
Removing rubbish costs SNG money: this could instead be spent on better services for you.
If you become aware of fly-tipping
If you’ve noticed rubbish that has been fly-tipped, start by speaking to your neighbours to find out if it belongs to them and if they’ve already arranged for it to be cleared.
If you know who’s responsible and you have spoken with them but the rubbish is not removed, please contact us to let us know. We can remove it and charge the clearance costs to the person responsible. We'll also consider there has been a breach of the tenancy/lease that needs to be addressed.
Without knowing who has disposed of the items or rubbish, all customers may have to pay for any costs to clear general waste, recycling or large items found in the communal areas.
If you have made enquiries and no-one knows who is responsible, or you've seen fly-tipping by someone who isn’t an SNG customer, you can take the following action.
If the rubbish is on SNG land
- Please contact us with as much information as possible and include a photo of what’s been left.
- Once we receive your report, we will arrange to have the item(s) removed.
- If you witness a non-customer fly-tipping, please gather as much information as it’s safe to (for example, a vehicle registration) and report this to us and to CrimeStoppers.
If the rubbish is not on SNG land
- Please report it to your local council , who may arrange for the fly-tipping to be removed.
- Alternatively, you can report it using FixMyStreet .