Stop the Drop - Litter and Fly-tipping Campaign Overview

Stop the Drop, CPRE's national campaign against litter and fly-tipping was launched on 16th April with intense media interest. CPRE Hampshire has been addressing the problems with fly-tipping since 2006, when a booklet was produced giving guidance to landowners on how to deal with the increasing problem. In addition, we are taking part in a multi–organisational initiative, led by the Committee for Rural Hampshire (CRH), to find a strategic solution to the litter & fly-tipping problems in Hampshire, and we hope to be in a position to move this forward in the summer of 2008.

In view of this existing project, and taking into consideration that the National CPRE campaign is a 3 year campaign, our current position is that we will be continuing with our role within the CRH group. However, the excellent campaign toolkit produced by National Office, will shortly be available at www.cpre.org.uk, either downloadable or on a CD by request. Any Hampshire resident who wishes to organise a local initiative with the guidance and advice in this information pack, will be fully supported by the Hampshire Branch.

Campaign Latest

Notes from a Dirty Island (National press release). Biil Bryson reports for BBC's Panorama on Monday 11 August, in a personal and passionate account on how appalled he is at how we now treat our surroundings like a rubbish tip. (6 August 2008)
National Press release. "Litter is getting worse and authorities not doing enough." Bill Bryson sets the challenge, outlines the campaign and what you can do about it. (16 April 2008)
Fly-tipping and litter: Bill Bryson on the blight on Britain's streets. Bill Bryson's guest column from The Times, 12th April 2008. "I am launching a three-year campaign against fly-tippers and litterbugs - a battle we can win" (opens in a new window).
Ways to Get Involved. Say no to carrier bags; sign up for CPRE's campaign newsletter, participate in local clean-ups. (April 2008)
Fixed penalty notice statistics (PDF file). "Local authorities remain magnificently relaxed when it comes to doing anything" (Bryson). Only just over £1.5 million in litter fines was collected nationally last year with 72 out of 354 local authorities issuing no penalties at all.
Current performance of local authorities on litter (PDF). Not one local authority surveyed achieved a 'good' rating on litter. For many authorities, performance has dropped from 'satisfactory' to 'unsatisfactory'.

Litter

Litter: A Renewed Focus. CPRE President Bill Bryson "absolutely hates rubbish". Read the background to his crusade against fly-tippers and litterbugs. (April 2008)
Cleanup UK. CPRE has joined forces with Cleanip UK to create an online litter network. (April 2008)
Bag It, Bin It. CPRE supports the Highways Agency in its campaign to encourage drivers to pick up a litter bag for their rubbish. (April 2008)
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust education pilot. CPRE is working with this trust on a one year anti-litter and flytipping awareness campaign in Wiltshire. (April 2008)

Flytipping

National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG). CPRE has joined and is an active member of this group. There is also news of a Hampshire anti-litter group and its efforts to secure European Leader funding for work in our area. (April 2008)
Combatting Flytipping. The scale of the problem and CPRE Hampshire's campaign to combat the problem. (March 2007)
Flytipping: A Guide for Farmers and Land Managers (PDF). A 16-page guide, with information on legislation, what to do about it, and who to contact. (March 2007)

Waste Recovery

So what happens to all the stuff when it doesn't depoil our countryside? To avoid increasing the burden on landfill, it goes to energy and materials recovdry facilities:

Report on a visit to Integra South East Energy Recovery Facility at Portsmouth. As well as an informative tour, visitors from CPRE learnt about the challenges of tackling waste and the use of recycling, energy recovery, and - as a last resort - landfill. (Oct 2007)
Waste Disposal. Dealing with asbestos; also a list of general dump sites in Hampshire. (March 2007)
Did You Know?. Waste and recycling snippets. (March 2007)
Are We Making The Most Of Our Waste?. "Not yet.." says Don Stewart, describing Hampshire's material and energy recovery facilities (Nov 2006).
Visit Report. Report on a CPRE Hampshire visit to the recovery facilities at Alton and Chineham in May 2006.
CPRE's National Policy on Waste (PDF document). Landfill sites cause many problems. CPRE's approach is based on a 3-level waste hierarchy of 1) minimisation; 2) re-use and recycling; and 3) disposal by incineration and landfill.

External Links

In our anti-litter and anti fly-tipping campaigns, CPRE has worked together with several other organisations. The following are links to the relevant pages of our partners. Please note: CPRE Hampshire is not responsible for the content of external websites. All links open in a new window.

Sign up for campaign e-bulletins UK. Register here to receive updates on the progress of the Stop the Drop campaign and how you can get involved.
Clean Up UK. A charity dedicated to helping and supporting volunteer litter-collecting groups and individuals.
LitterAction UK. A joint initiative of CPRE and Cleanup UK. This is an online community to help individuals and local groups organise clean-up drives and awareness raising activities in their local area.
Highways Agency Bag It, Bin It Campaign. CPRE is supporting the Agency in its campaign to provide bags for disposing of litter by drivers, rather than simply chucking it on the roadside.
Natural Collection's CPRE Shop. Get a CPRE cotton shopping bag, rather than a one-time use plastic bag.
National Fly Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG). A group that CPRE is active in working with other organisations to come up with solutions to the problem of fly-tipping.