East Lothian Partnership Against Rural Crime (ELPARC) has issued advice to householders over rogue waste carriers.
Residents were warned they could share legal liability with a fly-tipper if they didn’t make “reasonable checks” that the carrier was appropriately registered to dispose of their waste.
And ELPARC encouraged people to be wary about businesses offering “unrealistically cheap” waste uplift services.
An ELPARC spokesperson said: “It is the responsibility of householders to ensure any waste produced on their property is only removed by someone authorised to carry that waste. In order to do this, you should ask that person/company if they are a registered waste carrier. You may wish to confirm the registration is valid by checking the SEPA public register at https://beta.sepa.scot/regulation/public-register/. It is also advisable to ask them where your waste is going.
“If you’ve not made reasonable checks to ensure that waste produced on your property is carried by appropriately registered people, and that waste is subsequently found to have been fly-tipped, you may share liability with the fly-tipper and be made the subject of enforcement action.
Registered waste carrier
“You should be suspicious of people or businesses offering unrealistically cheap waste uplift and transportation services. This may be a sign that the waste is not being legally managed."
East Lothian Council officers are authorised to serve fixed penalty notices on those who engage in fly-tipping. The current financial penalty is £500 and there is no right of appeal. Failure to pay the penalty within 14 days will result in a report being submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.
If the case goes to court and someone is convicted of fly-tipping, they can face a fine of up to £40,000 and imprisonment for up to 12 months.
ELPARC is a partnership between East Lothian Council, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, NFUS, SEPA, SSPCA, RSPB, Neighbourhood Watch Scotland and Marine Scotland.
Anyone who has any information about unauthorised waste carriers is asked to report them to the council’s Community Protection Team on 01875 824 307.