Fly-tipping in Sandwell council area: incidents, enforcement and fines
12,542 fly-tipping incidents were recorded in Sandwell in 2024/25 (April 2024 to March 2025), according to the council's return to Defra: 35.4 for every 1,000 residents. That is higher than the rate across the councils in England that also count all incidents (21.1) and higher than the rate for those in the West Midlands (15.5). The council took 540 enforcement actions, including 28 fixed penalty notices and no prosecutions.
Table of Contents
- Fly-tipping in Sandwell at a glance, 2024/25
- Where fly-tipping happened in Sandwell
- What was fly-tipped in Sandwell
- How big the fly-tips were in Sandwell
- Fly-tipping enforcement and fines in Sandwell
- Fly-tipping in Sandwell since 2019/20
- Fly-tipping in West Midlands councils, 2024/25
- Related pages
- Questions about fly-tipping in Sandwell
- About these figures
Among the 267 councils in England that count all incidents, Sandwell had the 31st highest rate of fly-tipping per resident in 2024/25. Of the 27 ranked councils in the West Midlands, it had the 2nd highest rate. The count was up 1% on 2023/24 (12,407), against a rise of 9% in Defra's England total.
| Measure | Sandwell | West Midlands (councils counting all incidents) | England (councils counting all incidents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fly-tipping incidents | 12,542 | 73,999 | 1,077,530 |
| Incidents per 1,000 residents | 35.4 | 15.5 | 21.1 |
| Share on highways | 58% | 45% | 33% |
| Tipper lorry loads or larger | 60 | 2,750 | 38,558 |
| Enforcement actions per 100 incidents | 4.3 | 40.2 | 42.1 |
| Fixed penalty notices per 100 incidents | 0.2 | 3.9 | 3.5 |
| Prosecutions | 0 | 13 | 1,089 |
The region and England columns add up the 27 councils in the West Midlands and the 269 councils in England that count all incidents.
Highways accounted for the most incidents in Sandwell: 7,304, or 58% (England 33%). 128 were on private or residential land (1.0%; England 1.1%).
| Land type | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highway | 7,304 | 58.2% | 33.4% |
| Council land | 3,248 | 25.9% | 18.4% |
| Footpath or bridleway | 995 | 7.9% | 20.7% |
| Back alleyway | 708 | 5.6% | 9.0% |
| Other or not identified | 143 | 1.1% | 16.2% |
| Private or residential land | 128 | 1.0% | 1.1% |
| Watercourse or bank | 9 | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Railway | 7 | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Agricultural land | 0 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Commercial or industrial land | 0 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
The most common kind of waste was other household waste, in 7,575 incidents (60%; England 44%). Relative to England, Sandwell had a larger share of other commercial waste (7.9% against 2.9%) and chemical drums, oil and fuel (0.8% against 0.5%). Hazardous waste: 15 incidents involved asbestos, 14 incidents involved clinical waste and 106 incidents involved chemical drums, oil and fuel. Tyres were dumped in 102 incidents.
| Waste type | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other household waste | 7,575 | 60.4% | 43.6% |
| Black bags (household) | 1,471 | 11.7% | 17.2% |
| Other commercial waste | 990 | 7.9% | 2.9% |
| White goods | 685 | 5.5% | 4.7% |
| Construction, demolition and excavation waste | 515 | 4.1% | 5.5% |
| Green waste | 321 | 2.6% | 2.9% |
| Other or not identified | 261 | 2.1% | 15.9% |
| Black bags (commercial) | 243 | 1.9% | 2.4% |
| Vehicle parts | 139 | 1.1% | 0.9% |
| Chemical drums, oil and fuel | 106 | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| Tyres | 102 | 0.8% | 1.1% |
| Other electrical items | 99 | 0.8% | 1.7% |
| Asbestos | 15 | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Clinical waste | 14 | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Animal carcasses | 6 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
58% were a car boot load or less (England 53%). 42% were van loads (England 43%). 60 incidents were the size of a tipper lorry load or larger (0.5%; England 3.7%): 26 tipper lorry loads and 34 significant or multiple loads.
| Size | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single black bag | 609 | 4.9% | 9.2% |
| Single item | 3,192 | 25.5% | 16.3% |
| Car boot load or less | 3,438 | 27.4% | 27.3% |
| Small van load | 3,444 | 27.5% | 30.8% |
| Transit van load | 1,799 | 14.3% | 12.7% |
| Tipper lorry load | 26 | 0.2% | 2.4% |
| Significant or multiple loads | 34 | 0.3% | 1.3% |
The council took 540 enforcement actions against fly-tipping in 2024/25, 4.3 for every 100 incidents (England 42.1, the West Midlands 40.2). The most common action was investigations (512, 95% of all actions; England 68%). It issued 28 fixed penalty notices (5.2% of its actions; England 8.4%): 12 for fly-tipping itself, 10 to householders who passed waste to an unlicensed carrier (household duty of care), 1 for littering alongside fly-tipping and 5 of other kinds.
The council told Defra that its fixed penalty for fly-tipping is £1,000, reduced to £500 for early payment. No prosecutions were recorded. Among the 254 councils ranked on enforcement, Sandwell had the 24th lowest rate of actions per 100 incidents and the 105th highest share of fixed penalty notices.
| Action | Number | Per 100 incidents | England per 100 incidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investigations | 512 | 4.1 | 28.8 |
| Warning letters | 0 | 0.0 | 5.5 |
| Statutory notices | 0 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| Fixed penalty notices | 28 | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| Duty of care inspections | 0 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| Stop and search | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Vehicles seized | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Formal cautions | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Prosecutions | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
The chart shows fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 residents in Sandwell in each year from 2019/20 to 2024/25, with Defra's England total. The rate was above the England total's in every one of those 6 years. It starts in 2019/20, the first year for which Defra records how each council counts incidents.
| Year | Incidents | Per 1,000 residents | England per 1,000 (Defra total) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 12,542 | 35.4 | 21.5 |
| 2023/24 | 12,407 | 35.5 | 19.9 |
| 2022/23 | 11,855 | 34.4 | 19.0 |
| 2021/22 | 11,564 | 33.8 | 19.3 |
| 2020/21 | 10,330 | 31.4 | 20.1 |
| 2019/20 | 5,972 | 18.2 | 17.4 |
Of the 27 councils in the West Midlands ranked for 2024/25, Rugby had the highest rate (36.7 per 1,000) and Stafford the lowest (3.2). Rugby's count went from 1,952 in 2023/24 to 4,488 in 2024/25 while England's changed by +9%, a step that may reflect a change in how the council records fly-tipping. Birmingham, Lichfield and Newcastle-under-Lyme are listed but not ranked: ranks cover only councils that count all incidents, with 100 or more in the year.
| Council | Incidents | Per 1,000 | Actions per 100 incidents | Rank in region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby | 4,488 | 36.7 | 16.2 | 1st of 27; count 1,952 in 2023/24 |
| Sandwell | 12,542 | 35.4 | 4.3 | 2nd of 27 |
| Telford and Wrekin | 5,811 | 29.7 | 45.9 | 3rd of 27 |
| Redditch | 2,255 | 25.7 | 45.0 | 4th of 27 |
| Walsall | 6,604 | 22.3 | 9.1 | 5th of 27 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 5,893 | 21.8 | 87.2 | 6th of 27 |
| Tamworth | 1,589 | 19.6 | 99.1 | 7th of 27 |
| Coventry | 7,188 | 19.5 | 122.6 | 8th of 27 |
| Solihull | 3,998 | 18.1 | 5.5 | 9th of 27 |
| Warwick | 2,724 | 17.6 | 18.8 | 10th of 27 |
| Bromsgrove | 1,591 | 15.6 | 20.0 | 11th of 27 |
| North Warwickshire | 1,020 | 15.2 | 5.5 | 12th of 27 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth | 2,141 | 15.1 | 31.7 | 13th of 27 |
| Wolverhampton | 3,336 | 11.9 | 64.6 | 14th of 27 |
| East Staffordshire | 1,460 | 11.3 | 15.3 | 15th of 27 |
| South Staffordshire | 1,171 | 10.2 | 5.3 | 16th of 27 |
| Dudley | 3,303 | 10.0 | 16.3 | 17th of 27 |
| Wyre Forest | 831 | 8.0 | 21.4 | 18th of 27 |
| Wychavon | 948 | 6.9 | 0.9 | 19th of 27 |
| Shropshire | 1,734 | 5.2 | 64.6 | 20th of 27 |
| Worcester | 512 | 4.8 | 74.2 | 21st of 27 |
| Cannock Chase | 482 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 22nd of 27 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands | 397 | 4.1 | 112.3 | 23rd of 27 |
| Herefordshire | 708 | 3.7 | 137.9 | 24th of 27 |
| Malvern Hills | 298 | 3.6 | 39.6 | 25th of 27 |
| Stratford-on-Avon | 523 | 3.6 | 101.1 | 26th of 27 |
| Stafford | 452 | 3.2 | 31.6 | 27th of 27 |
| Birmingham | 24,664 | 20.8 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
| Lichfield | 552 | 4.9 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | 840 | 6.6 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
- Fly-tipping in England: every council compared
- Crime statistics for Sandwell (police recorded crime, from data.police.uk)
How many fly-tipping incidents were there in Sandwell in 2024/25?
12,542 incidents were recorded in 2024/25, 35.4 per 1,000 residents, against 21.1 across the councils in England that count all incidents. In 2023/24 the figure was 12,407.
What is the fine for fly-tipping in Sandwell?
Sandwell council told Defra that its fixed penalty for fly-tipping is £1,000 (£500 if paid early). In 2024/25 it issued 28 fixed penalty notices (12 for fly-tipping itself).
Where does fly-tipping happen in Sandwell?
In 2024/25 fly-tipping was most often recorded on highways (7,304, 58%), council land (3,248, 26%) and footpaths and bridleways (995, 8%).
What gets fly-tipped in Sandwell?
Other household waste (7,575), black bags (household) (1,471) and other commercial waste (990) were the most common kinds of waste in 2024/25.
Is fly-tipping in Sandwell going up?
The count rose from 12,407 in 2023/24 to 12,542 in 2024/25. Recording practice varies between councils and over time, so part of a change can come from how incidents are counted.
How do I report fly-tipping in Sandwell?
Report it to the council for Sandwell, which clears fly-tipping on public land and investigates it. Large-scale or hazardous dumping can also be reported to the Environment Agency.
Source: Defra, fly-tipping statistics for England, local authority table (published 25 February 2026), gov.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0. What is counted, and how councils differ: fly-tipping in England.