Cornwall Fly-Tipping Cases Surge By More Than A Quarter In A Year

Something has shifted on Cornwall’s lanes and lay-bys. After two years of falling numbers, fly-tipping has come roaring back, with the county recording 830 more incidents in just twelve months.

New figures show Cornwall logged 3,931 fly-tipping incidents in 2024-25, up from 3,101 the year before. That is a 26.8% jump in a single year, and it puts the county fourth in the South West for dumped rubbish.

The analysis comes from eco-friendly rubbish removal company HIPPO Waste, which examined Defra fly-tipping statistics for every local authority in the region.

How Cornwall Compares Across The South West

Only three places in the South West recorded more fly-tipping than Cornwall last year. Bristol topped the table with 10,266 incidents, followed by Plymouth on 5,370 and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole on 4,966. Cornwall sits ahead of Swindon (3,759) and Wiltshire (3,005).

Nationally, Cornwall ranks 84th in England.

The Two-Year Dip Has Been Wiped Out

For a while, things were heading the right way. Cornwall recorded 3,734 incidents in 2020-21, then numbers dropped for two years running, falling to 2,770 in 2022-23. Then came the climb back up. By 2023-24 the figure had reached 3,101, and the latest count of 3,931 means Cornwall is now back above where it started five years ago, up 5.3% over the period.

Court Fines Return After A Blank Year

Court fines linked to fly-tipping also made a comeback in 2024-25. The county issued £3,160 in fines, after recording absolutely none the year before. That figure is still well short of the £7,348 issued in 2021-22.

Why Cornwall? A Question Of Geography

Gareth Lloyd Jones, Managing Director at HIPPO Waste, pointed to the county’s layout as part of the problem.

“The South West shows just how different the fly-tipping picture can be from one council to the next. In Cornwall, the issue is partly about geography. You have a large county, lots of rural roads, smaller communities, holiday lets and people travelling between towns, villages and coastal areas. That can make dumping harder to spot quickly and more expensive to clear.”

Gareth said the recent jump was the part that caught his eye.

“What stands out in Cornwall is the recent jump. The county is only slightly above where it was in 2020-21, but a rise of more than a quarter in one year suggests the pressure has started to build again. Rural fly-tipping can be especially frustrating because one dumped sofa, fridge or pile of building waste can sit in a lane or gateway for days before it is reported.”

He added that bin collection services play a bigger role than people might think.

“Reliable waste collections and accessible disposal services make a huge difference. If councils are struggling to roll out new food waste collections consistently, there is always a risk more rubbish ends up dumped on roadsides, in rural lay-bys or near residential estates.”

A Mixed Picture Across The Region

Not every council is heading the same way. Plymouth is down 6.5% on the year and 23.5% lower than in 2020-21, when its tally topped 7,000. Bath and North East Somerset has cut incidents by 12.4% in a year and 30.6% over the full period.

But others are climbing fast. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is up 77.9% both in the past year and over five years, almost all of that rise coming in the most recent twelve months. Swindon has gone from 739 incidents in 2020-21 to 3,759 in 2024-25, a rise of 408.7%.

For Cornwall, the question now is whether the jump from 3,101 to 3,931 is a one-off bounce or the start of something steeper.