A new hard-hitting campaign which targets those who litter and flytip and encourages everyone to help tackle the problems and love where they live has been launched today.
Peterborough City Council is stepping up its work to raise awareness of the issues which continue to blight communities and cause frustration across the city. To coincide with this, the authority will also shortly be launching city-wide free bulky waste collections, with plans for one free community bulky waste collection in each ward for the remainder of 2026/27 currently being developed. The proposals include increasing free collections to two per month in each ward during 2027/28 and updates will be announced shortly.
Today the authority is launching a new campaign in partnership with the Peterborough Litter Wombles and Independent Review Committee (IRC) groups, which will highlight how litter and fly-tipping damage our environment, harm wildlife, costs substantial money and spoils the place we call home.
The campaign, which is being actively promoted on our social media channels under the banner of Love Where You Live, will emphasise that everyone has a part to play in tackling the problems and that by disposing of litter and waste properly, residents can help the council save money and create cleaner and stronger communities.
New website pages have been created, where we will publish live fly-tipping appeals to gather evidence, examples of recent successful prosecutions and awareness campaigns, as well as comprehensive data detailing incidents across every council ward in the city.
The campaign will also showcase the risks people take by dumping waste – the authority continues to prosecute people for fly-tipping, often leading to offenders being fined in court. The council will now be regularly naming and shaming offenders, as well as publishing CCTV images and footage of culprits caught in the act.
The new pages also provide hints and tips for residents on using licensed waste carriers to avoid being fined themselves, the correct ways to dispose of bulky or difficult waste, including booking the council's bulky waste collection or visiting the Household Recycling Centre and how to report fly-tipping incidents or suspicious behaviour.
Councillor Chris Wiggin, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “It is a great frustration that fly-tipping and littering continue to be big problems across Peterborough, despite the dedicated efforts of our officers and volunteers to clean it up and raise awareness. I know that residents share our exasperation and want us to do all we can to tackle the problems.
“As part of this new campaign we are urging people to love where they live, which means taking personal responsibility for your environment and making the city a place where people can be proud to live and spend time.
“It’s now time to up the ante and put the pressure back on fly-tippers and litterers. I urge everyone to share the campaign’s messages on social media – and take heed that tackling fly-tipping and littering is everyone’s responsibility. As well as raising awareness of the problems, we will be highlighting the correct ways to get rid of waste and we need people’s help to spread the word.”
In recent years the council has actively worked to tackle fly-tipping. In 2024 the authority was awarded just under £50,000 by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as part of a nationwide scheme to target fly-tipping hotspots. The council used the funds to provide further cameras at hotspot locations to assist with collecting evidence to allow for enforcement actions.
We have also recently increased Fixed Penalty Notices for fly-tipping offences to the maximum amount. As part of work to raise awareness, officers regularly visit local schools to teach children about the importance of proper waste disposal.
If you witness someone fly-tipping, call the police on 999 and report it as a crime in progress. All instances of fly-tipping on public land should also be reported to us as the local waste authority, whether you witnessed the fly-tipping taking place or not.
You can report fly-tipping to us online or by calling 01733 747474.