Like many of my colleagues in waste management, I'm appalled and frustrated by the rise in fly-tipping. Over a million incidents recorded in 2024 alone. Costs of over £ 13 million to clean up. Yes, there have been thousands of pounds worth of fines and penalties issued to those that have been caught. Even prison sentences for some, but regardless of this, fly-tipping keeps happening and it's getting worse.
· A lack of nearby drop-off depots or recycling facilities.
· Rejection of items at recycling drop-offs
· Confusion as to what can be recycled and how to dispose of it.
· High costs of using landfill or specified hazardous waste sites.
Then there is of course one of the most challenging factors to overcome: simple apathy and disregard for laws, people's property, or potential risks associated with dumping toxic waste. People who knowingly still dump illegally because they can't be bothered to go to the effort or don't want to pay the costs associated with proper disposal.
How do you change the behaviour of people who don't care? You can't reason with them. Any attempt to educate them to the harms of what they're doing will fall on deaf ears, because people only listen to what they care about, and they don't care. Not one whit. Just look at litter…
In my curiosity, I tapped into what the world of AI thought. I asked how would the people hailed by many as tech geniuses go about solving one of the biggest problems in waste management — fly-tipping. I've summarised the conversation with ChatGPT below. For the full transcript click here . I was very surprised where the conversation too me.
The AI bots cited Musk, Bezos, Nadella and Pichai, heads of Tesla and Starlink, Amazon, Microsoft and Google. If nothing else, it's one way to start an interesting debate.
1. The Musk approach is to use data analytics and create efficiencies in waste management by using AI and automation. Let's separate the AI ideology from reality.
Data can be useful in tracking the source of where illegally dumped items are coming from and where potential gaps in waste facilities and services. By analysing the composition of loads, whether it's construction materials, DIY waste, general household waste or appliances, it may be possible to trace them back to their source and then address the issue of waste management there.
Alternatively, that information could be fed to local enforcement agencies to track and catch perpetrators. If there are specific routes or areas where illegal dumping commonly occurs, these could be monitored to apprehend culprits.