Residents Who Report Waste Are Part of the Solution

Recent discussion about Croydon’s fly-tipping figures has raised questions about duplicate reports and incidents that may have been classified incorrectly.

These may be genuine problems with the reporting data. However, residents should not be blamed for noticing waste and reporting what they find.

Residents do not create fly-tipping by photographing it. They do not make streets dirty by reporting them. They are documenting problems that already exist and helping the council understand where action is needed.

When waste remains on a street, several residents may report it independently. The same resident may also report it again if it has not been cleared or if additional waste appears. That does not mean the underlying problem is imaginary.

If multiple reports concern the same incident, the council’s system should be able to identify and consolidate them. If litter, overflowing bins and fly-tipping are being recorded under the wrong categories, the council should improve its guidance and reporting process.

The council should be able to inform a resident reporting a flytip whether the location has already been reported and is being addressed.

Also,

The council should be able to distinguish between:

• The number of reports received

• The number of unique incidents

• Duplicate reports

• Recurring problems at the same location

• Reports classified as litter, commercial waste or fly-tipping (with a good AI implementation)

• Incidents investigated and enforcement action taken

Publishing this information clearly would give residents and councillors a more accurate understanding of the problem.

Community volunteers spend significant amounts of unpaid time reporting waste, cleaning streets and monitoring locations where problems repeatedly occur. Their local knowledge and evidence should be valued. Reporting should lead to better data, targeted cleaning and effective enforcement, not criticism of those making the reports.

A strong council does not discourage residents from reporting problems because the resulting figures are uncomfortable. It uses those reports to understand what is happening and improve its response.

The problem is not that Croydon residents see and report too much waste.

The problem is that there continues to be so much waste for them to report.