Background
What we mean by 'fly-tipping'?
The word fly-tipping comes from the term ‘on the fly’ meaning on the move. This is mixed with the word ‘tip’, meaning ‘to throw out’.
Fly-tipping is the dumping of rubbish or items, on land or in water. This can be bin bags, furniture, mattresses, large electrical items such as fridges, washing machines and cookers.
From April 2024 to March 2025, 14,963 fly‑tipping incidents were reported in Manchester.
These were on:
- Roads and pavements - 59%
- Alleyways - 22%
- And the rest were on other types of land that the council looks after.
We don’t record fly-tipping on private land.
On average, the council investigates 346 fly-tipping incidents a month.
What we mean by 'litter'
Litter is smaller items. This can be drinks containers, sweets and crisps wrappers, food packets, cigarette butts, chewing gum, and dog fouling.
As well as removing litter and waste, we responded to 6,563 reports of dust, dirt or litter from April 2024 to March 2025
A total of 11,952 fines were given out for littering in the same period.
Council responsibilities
We are responsible for looking into fly‑tipping on public land. We also keep streets, roads and land clear of litter where we can. We act against anyone caught fly-tipping or littering.
Managing this puts a heavy strain on the council, as we must use funds that could be spent on other services.
Fly-tipping and litter also damages the environment. It adds to flooding and causes pollution (including microplastics). Dumping waste affects health and wellbeing, and how people feel about their area.
Keep Britain Tidy insights
Keep Britain Tidy raises awareness of litter and fly-tipping issues.
Its national studies on fly-tipping show:
- people don’t know small-scale tipping, for example black bin bags full of rubbish, is ‘fly-tipping’
- people expect fly-tipping to be removed quickly without any ‘come back’
- fly-tipping is seen as low-impact
- some council approaches may accidentally lead to more fly-tipping
- people feel the hassle of getting rid of items properly adds to fly-tipping
- some types of fly-tipping are seen as OK by some people. For example, leaving items on the pavement, like metal, washing machines or fridges
- some people do not get rid of their rubbish or unwanted items properly
- the chances of enforcement, for example fines, is seen to be low.
Its national studies on litter show:
- litter is widespread but it is worse in deprived areas
- people feel alleyways are the most littered
- smoking related litter is the most common type, followed by sweets and crisps packets
- how bad the public think litter is, can differ from how bad it really is
- the public supports strong action against littering.