England’s Construction Fly-Tipping Hotspots Revealed

Local authorities in England recorded 1,257,863 fly-tipping incidents in 2024/25. This is one incident every 25 seconds. With 5.5% of these crimes involving construction, demolition or excavation waste, we analysed government data against local population figures to identify highly concentrated areas of construction-related fly-tipping.

Merton ranks highest, with 130.96 construction-related incidents per 10,000 people. London dominates the upper end of the ranking. However, our analysis only relates to recorded incidents.

2,692 of 20,047 fly-tipping incidents were construction-related. This equates to 13.43% of all recorded incidents.

Adjusted for population, Lewisham is in third place. With 3,705 recorded construction, demolition or excavation incidents, this is the largest raw number in the top 10.

This is why population adjustment is important.

Seven areas in England recorded zero cases of construction-related fly-tipping. These were:

• Cannock Chase
• Folkestone and Hythe
• Isles of Scilly
• Nottingham
• Oadby and Wigston
• Tameside
• West Lancashire

Although the local government datasets logged no incidents in this category, authorities may not have identified illegal waste dumping.

There are many reasons why construction waste may end up being dumped illegally.

• Waste producers may be looking to cut costs associated with legitimate disposal.
• They may accidentally employ an unlicensed waste carrier.
• They may poorly plan waste volumes, resulting in a lack of suitable skip or container space.
• They may opt for cash-in-hand clearances from illegitimate sources.
• Illegal operators may undercut legitimate waste disposal experts.

Fly-tipping isn’t representative of the construction sector as a whole. Reputable contractors will prioritise authorised waste disposal routes. If you’re concerned about where your construction-related waste is ending up, always seek expert advice.

Construction waste can be bulky, heavy and expensive to clear. Larger incidents can require specialist vehicles, lifting equipment and additional labour to clear effectively.

Fly-tipping has negative consequences for the public. Dumped waste can block roads, footpaths, gateways and site access. Broken glass, nails, sharp metal and damaged building materials create physical hazards, while hazardous-containing materials can cause complicated issues to soil or water.

Clearance costs can fall on councils, landowners and businesses. To counteract instances of fly-tipping, councils can issue fixed penalties in appropriate cases. Repeated offences, organised, or hazardous incidents can result in prosecution. Businesses can also face enforcement if they fail to meet their waste Duty of Care.

• We used the latest available 2024/25 fly-tipping data for England published by Defra.
• We recorded the total number of fly-tipping incidents for each local authority.
• We then identified how many involved construction, demolition or excavation waste.
• Population figures were matched to each local authority.
• We calculated the rate of construction-related fly-tipping using:

Construction incidents ÷ population × 10,000

• Local authorities were ranked from highest to lowest based on construction fly-tipping incidents per 10,000 people.
• We also kept the raw number of incidents and the percentage of all fly-tipping made up by construction waste for context.
• Seven local authorities recorded zero construction, demolition or excavation incidents in the dataset.
• A zero figure means no incidents were recorded in that category. It does not prove that no fly-tipping occurred.
• The data reflects recorded incidents only and should not be treated as a ranking of council performance or enforcement quality.