Liverpool City Council is teaming up with Keep Britain Tidy for ‘Fight Fly-Tipping Fortnight’, a campaign warning residents about criminal waste traders who use convincing, professional-looking online ads to pose as legitimate businesses – only to illegally dump the rubbish they are paid to take away.
Fly-tipping costs councils across England millions of pounds every year in clean-up costs, draining money that could otherwise be spent on essential local services. In Liverpool, the Council cleared up a total of 15,820 incidents in the past year, costing local taxpayers approximately £1 million. This could pay for other improvements across the city, such as new bins, upgrades to greenspaces or additional street cleansing.
The campaign calls on people across the city to protect themselves and their communities from falling for a #RubbishDeal – low-cost, unlicensed services offered using appealing ads on social media by organised waste criminals. Rogue waste traders hide in plain sight behind professional-looking adverts, ‘five-star’ reviews and tempting prices, making it difficult to tell them apart from legitimate operators. What they don’t tell you is where your rubbish could end up.
Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight is helping residents know what to look out for and make simple checks before handing over their rubbish to avoid it being illegally dumped on streets, fields and public spaces.
The Council is supporting Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight with a local campaign across its social media channels, calling on households to take three simple steps to avoid a #RubbishDeal:
- Ask for a waste carrier licence
- Check the number on the Environment Agency’s public register or call 0300 065 3000)
- Check you’ll get a receipt
Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight will run from 12 – 25 October 2026, with local authorities across the country joining forces with Keep Britain Tidy to highlight the scale and impact of fly-tipping and educate residents on how to protect themselves and their communities.
To report fly–tipping incidents, visit the Council website.
Councillor Laura Robertson-Collins, Cabinet Member for Communities, Neighbourhoods and Streetscene said: “Fly-tipping is a blight on our communities and harms our environment. Our teams have dealt with rubbish being left near schools and cemeteries, as well as items such as fridges and mattresses being left on our streets.
“There is absolutely no need for fly-tipping, and people should not have to dodge rubbish as they go about their day. Not only does it cause health risks, but having to investigate and clear up after selfish individuals draws money and resources away from other vital services.
“Our teams work hard throughout the year to tackle the problem, but we need the help of our communities to stop it from happening in the first place.
“Rogue waste traders are taking money from people who want to get rid of their rubbish properly and dumping it elsewhere. We’re asking people to make three simple checks before handing over their rubbish and protect themselves from becoming a victim.”
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive Officer at Keep Britain Tidy,said: “Local authorities see first-hand the damage fly-tipping causes, working every day to clear illegally dumped waste and protect the places their communities value. Tackling the problem places huge demands on already stretched council teams, which is why we’re so pleased to have Liverpool City Council supporting Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight this year.
“People hiring someone to take away their rubbish should be able to trust that it will be disposed of responsibly. But rogue waste traders are exploiting that trust, taking people’s money and then leaving their waste dumped in streets, fields and public spaces for communities and councils to deal with.
“What makes this particularly difficult is that criminals can be surprisingly hard to spot. A convincing advert, good reviews and a cheap price can make an illegal operator look like a legitimate business, leaving people thinking they’re paying for their rubbish to be responsibly taken away when it could end up dumped in their own community.
“Our message is simple: don’t fall for a #RubbishDeal. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”
