Fly-tipping and household bulky waste management across Scotland: the case for inclusive local policies and a safer end-of-engineered life for bulky items

Fly-tipping is the illegal disposal of waste onto land and in our waterways. It is a global phenomenon which manifests heterogeneously dependent on availability of waste management services. Developed countries experience fly-tipping as a leak from the circular economy whereby items are dumped in the environment before collection can occur whereas developing countries experience mass open dumpsites due to a lack of waste management services. Fly-tipping is a pollution-based environmental crime, and it is an act of human behaviour. It is a serious source of pollution and can be hazardous to human health given that the materials disposed of can be difficult to dispose of and/or contain substances that are destructive to land and the habitats of wildlife. Our research studies the fly-tipping of bulky items as they are the most encountered materials in fly-tipping incidents across Scotland with economic costs for litter and fly-tipping reaching £280.8 million annually. Scotland provides a unique case study to consider the nexus of waste management systems and communities given the connected nature of the waste landscape and close-knit web of stakeholders.