Don’t waste time on conmen — warning

That was the warning issued this week to Facebook users who hire unregistered waste carriers through adverts placed on social media.

The Environment Agency spoke out after complaints from legally-operating waste businesses of rogue traders offering their services online.

Fly-tipping continues to be a blot on the Rotherham landscape — only this week, a large load of office furniture and other waste was spotted in a field gateway in Scholes Lane, just outside Scholes village (pictured).

Waste carriers, like other licensed trades, are required to register and operate in line with a set of rules that protect the environment and their customers.

These rules require them to dispose of waste in the right place, store it safely and keep accurate records of its transfer and disposal.

But the EA said registered waste carriers had become concerned about the number of “man and van” adverts and self-promotion on Facebook and other social media platforms offering to take away people’s rubbish.  

Jacqui Tootill of the Agency said: “Rogue traders using social media to con people into parting with their waste cheaply are the new doorsteppers.

“People are then discovering their waste has been fly-tipped in a country lane or beside the road. These illegal waste carriers undermine legitimate businesses, undercut their prices and blight the environment.

“We want people to take three steps to check whether the collector has a waste carriers’ license from the Environment Agency: ask where the rubbish will end up, don’t pay cash and insist on a receipt, then record the details of the vehicle used to take the rubbish away.”

Anyone suspecting criminal activity, can report it through the EA’s national incident hotline on 0800 807060 or anonymously through CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111.

The EA pointed out that the person who creates the rubbish is legally responsible for it and could face criminal charges and fines of up to £400.

You can check a waste removal firm’s details at https://tinyurl.com/wastecarriercheck.