QuestGates has seen a surge in fly-tipping claims during August and September, with Essex and South Cambridgeshire being the areas hardest hit.
The material being dumped is generally processed waste, such as trommel fines, deposited using tipper trucks on farmland where preventative measures such as concrete poacher blocks have been removed for seasonal harvesting activities, which the waste criminals have fully exploited. This is recognised as large scale organised crime, costing landowners, operators and sometimes their insurers tens of thousands of pounds to have the illegally dumped waste removed and taken to a licensed facility. Often the only viable option is landfill due to the waste containing hazardous materials and such claims require careful handling with appropriate expertise to ensure innocent landowners or their insurers do not themselves unintentionally fall foul of complex waste regulations.
Our Environmental team is working hard to provide the specialist support required to manage these complex cases and protect landowners and insurers.