We moved into our house last year and the property is in need of extensive renovation.
While doing the work, we had to use several containers. The containers are always placed at the entrance of our house.
We live on a very busy street and every time we get a bin, it’s full of other people’s rubbish. We’ve had everything from dog poop bags to an old radiator. It’s disgusting and annoying.
Are there rules against this kind of thing? What can we do to prevent it and solve the problem?
Garbage Dumpsters: A This is Money reader has other people dumping garbage in their dumpsters on their property.
This is Money’s Jane Denton responds: It is not clear to me why some people believe they have a divine right to throw bags of dog poop filled with hideous substances anywhere they want, including in their bins.
As for someone dumping a radiator, that is potentially dangerous and it is important to check regularly to make sure that no other dangerous items or chemicals are being disposed of in the bins.
As this is happening regularly, consider installing CCTV on your property, which could catch the culprits in action.
Heavy-duty dumpster covers are also available that can help prevent some of the larger unwanted items from being thrown in. Powerful motion-sensing lights nearby can also help deter criminals operating at night.
Make sure that when your bins are delivered to you, you are ready to fill them and remove them as soon as possible. Unfortunately, although it shouldn’t be the case, the longer a bin sits empty, the more likely it is to be filled with other people’s rubbish.
This is not possible in your case, but when feasible, it may be helpful to place a container out of sight.
Unless you can track down the offender(s), unfortunately, your cleanup responsibility has become their responsibility.
Joanne Ellis is a partner and dispute resolution specialist at Stephensons law firm.
Joanne Ellis, partner and dispute resolution specialist at law firm Stephensons, said: The unsolicited use of skips and even wheelie bins on private property is an increasingly common problem – in fact, it is known in the waste industry as ‘bin stuffing’.
The first thing to say is that this is considered antisocial behavior and is illegal.
As a first option, I always recommend speaking to your local council. They may be willing to help, but they will usually only investigate problems that occur on public property, not private property.
However, local councils have the power to take action against anyone found to have deposited domestic, commercial or industrial waste.
If found guilty, the offender can be sentenced to up to five years and an unlimited fine. The courts can also order the offender to pay the costs associated with the disposal of the waste.
Alternatively, you could bring a private action under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which is the law the Environment Agency would use to bring a case.
Waste collection authorities also have powers to issue fixed fines.
Since the dumpster is at the entrance to your home, and assuming this is private property, anyone entering your property is committing a trespass. Items left on your property are also known as trespassing items.
The remedies available to you are, firstly, to use a “self-help” remedy and return the invaded items directly to the owner, if you know them, although this is highly unlikely to be feasible.
Secondly, you could apply for a court order against the person, if you know them, to prevent them from accessing your property. If the court order is not complied with, the offender could be found guilty of contempt of court and face a prison sentence.
Third, if the perpetrators happen to be close neighbors, certain restrictive covenants may help you.
You should have been informed about any such covenants that encumber or benefit your land when you purchased the property, and you may want to review the paperwork again.
Focus on prevention
Unfortunately, there are issues with the legal system and the speed with which it might act to help you, and the cost involved in making any application could be high.
A major problem in such situations is identifying the perpetrators in order to try to bring legal action against them. It is also increasingly difficult to claim legal fees from an opponent in a lawsuit, even if successful.
Therefore, in this case it would be better to focus on prevention and deterrence rather than legal remedies and compensation.
The skip hire company may have some practical solutions that could help. Aside from that, you should consider installing a video surveillance system, with good visible signage to make it clear that anyone using the skip is being caught on camera.
It could be argued that the images will be used to take legal action against anyone using the container.
You have the right to have any CCTV recording you wish on your own land. It is also possible to have CCTV recording outside your own boundaries, provided you comply with the relevant obligations in doing so.
In practice, well-placed lights can also have a deterrent effect, whether they are permanently on or activated by a sensor.
Finally, you may want to consider some sort of physical barrier at your entrance, such as a gate that is closed and locked.
As with any potential legal dispute, it is important to keep a detailed record of all incidents. CCTV footage would be ideal for this.
Simon Colvin, partner at Weightmans LLP, said: Depositing waste on land may constitute a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The owner of a home benefits from an exemption from this offence which allows him to keep the household waste generated on that property on the property, within certain limitations.
A local authority may issue a fixed penalty to anyone who commits such an offence. In more extreme circumstances, they may also take more formal enforcement action.
The real difficulty will be identifying those responsible for depositing the waste (in this case in the container) and then trying to get the local authority to take coercive measures.
The activity is unlikely to be considered illegal dumping, as it involves the disposal of waste from a vehicle. It is also unlikely to be littering, as this is public land, not private property.
You could try to file a civil lawsuit against those responsible, but again that does not present an easy solution from an evidentiary and procedural standpoint.
Your willingness to take such an approach will no doubt depend on the scale of the problem. One practical measure might be to try to seal or cover the container when not in use to prevent unwanted materials from getting into it – something you should discuss with the container company.
