New crackdown on fly-tipping by rogue firms in Leeds as trustworthy tradesmen are given council accreditation

It has long been the scourge of hard-working council teams, who spend their days collecting discarded mattresses, broken fridges and old carpets from alleyways and fields.

But that could be about to change, as a new scheme to promote genuine waste carriers – as opposed to cowboy firms – was launched by Leeds City Council this week.

The Leeds Accredited Waste Carrier Scheme was set up so that residents can choose from a selection of trustworthy, city-based businesses to take away their waste.

One of the first businesses to sign up was LAH Waste, which boss Craig Risdon named after kids Lacey, Alfie and Harrison.

He said: “A lot of unaccredited companies go around under-cutting businesses like ours by taking the waste at a certain price and dumping it somewhere.

“This scheme will help people to get their waste shifted quickly and responsibly.”

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The initiative comes as new figures from non-profit organisation Material Focus reveal that up to 60% of waste carriers could be operating illegally.

But it is not just the criminal firms that could be punished as a result of fly-tipping – it also brings penalties to those who hired them.

A total of 12 people in Leeds have been prosecuted over the last year for not choosing a licensed carrier. One of these was a Farnley resident who paid a waste collector on Facebook £150 to remove waste from their property.

When the council’s Serious Environmental Crime Team found the waste dumped illegally, the resident couldn’t provide details of who had removed the waste and hadn’t checked if they held a licence.

They were hit with a £200 fine, which they failed to pay. They were then prosecuted and had to pay more than £1,000 including costs and victim surcharges.

Leeds City Council has crushed 10 vans used for fly tipping in the last 12 months.

Under the new scheme, residents can easily find a list of accredited waste carriers that the council has vetted, with intelligence shared by the police before the status is awarded.

Coun Mohammed Rafique is the council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space.

He said: “We’re thrilled to be launching this new scheme to support everyone in Leeds to easily find a trustworthy and legal business to remove their waste and not fall foul of the law.

“I’m proud of the work we’re doing to combat fly tipping in Leeds, showing a zero-tolerance approach to all environmental crime."

Coun Rafique, who represents Chapel Allerton, added: “With the new scheme, we hope to shrink the marketplace for illegal waste carriers that contribute to fly tipping and make it easy for people to fulfil the duty of care to dispose of their waste correctly.

“Please think twice about just hiring anyone from social media to take away your home or garden waste. If you see a local business offering services, check to see if they’ve got the accredited waste carrier logo.

“If you’re a responsible waste carrier, we’d be glad to have you join this free scheme that puts your checked and vetted business in-contact with local customers.”