Illegal waste fly-tipping in the Covid-19 pandemic: enhanced compliance, temporal displacement, and urban-rural variation.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Illegal dumping of household and business waste, known as fly-tipping in the UK, is a significant environmental crime. News agencies reported major increases early in the COVID-19 pandemic when waste disposal services were closed or disrupted. This study examines the effect of lockdowns on illegal dumping in the UK.

Method

A freedom of information request was sent to all local authorities in the UK asking for records of reported incidents of fly-tipping for before and after the first national lockdown. ARIMA modelling and year-on-year comparison was used to compare observed and expected levels of fly-tipping. Urban and rural local authorities were compared.

Results

A statistically significant decline in fly-tipping during the first lockdown was followed by a

SUBMITTER: Dixon AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9510297 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature