AQW 28593/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 24/01/2022
Answered On Date: 01/02/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to address fly-tipping at clothing banks.

Answer:

In the early days of the pandemic, my Department developed a communications campaign, delivered by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), to support waste management and recycling behaviours, including a message warning against fly-tipping. This key messaging has been shared across multiple media platforms throughout the pandemic, including a flyer delivered to 800,000 households in Northern Ireland, various radio adverts and social media posts.

Responsibility for dealing with illegal dumping is shared between the District Councils, who deal with low level waste offences, and NIEA who deal with large scale waste criminality and hazardous waste.

Although fly-tipped waste is primarily a matter to be managed at a local Council level and this would include fly-tipping at clothes banks, Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) officers continue to work closely with local Councils in addressing the issue of illegal waste disposal and will, where appropriate, assist councils in addressing any areas of local concern.

My officials are continuing to develop inter-agency working with regard to a Fly-tipping Protocol, which is in the process of being agreed with the local Councils in Northern Ireland. This aims to facilitate quick and efficient responses to smaller cases of reported illegal dumping. The protocol should consolidate responsibilities for both the NIEA and the Councils and will help to maximise the effectiveness of our collective efforts in dealing with all forms of illegal dumping.

This ongoing work will further strengthen the powers which Councils have to deal with fly tipping and will enable them to issue fixed penalty notices for such offences.