Two weeks ago I featured concerns in relation to litter and fly tipping and again I received much useful feedback.

It is clear that as well as the organisations I mentioned such as Beach Buddies, Three Pieces of Plastic and PlasticBusters doing great practical work and others educating globally that lots of individuals are playing their part.

The stark facts that I received in an email with accompanying images are worthy of repeating. Eight to 10 million tons of plastic are dumped in the oceans around the world each year killing more than 100,000 marine animals and a million seabirds.

It takes 450 years for a discarded plastic bottle to degrade.

Examples were provided of plastic ties discarded after certain street operations were completed or like Douglas Head where people enjoy their lunch but don’t always do the responsible thing.

I was told a similar situation exists adjacent to the Steve Hislop statue in Onchan where the magnificent views across the bay are often accompanied by an overflowing bin or discarded food packaging. It’s quite simple in such situations, take the litter and dispose of it responsibly.

In the sea around our island one important initiative was introduced in March 2020 by the Isle of Man Government in collaboration with our fishing industry called ’Fishing for Litter’.

The government provide bags, the fishermen put the debris in them and they are then placed in designated bins ashore.

I promised to follow up with certain local authorities after the coverage that had been given in 2018 by the Isle of Man Examiner in relation to offences of littering or fly tipping and am grateful for the responses I received from officials.

Douglas Corporation between April 2018 and March 2021 had reports of 61 littering offences and had issued 10 fixed penalty notices.

Onchan Commissioners had taken no actions against littering or fly tipping in the last five years but had received four reports of fly tipping which had been dealt with.

Ramsey Town Commissioners had issued 57 fixed penalties and taken three incidents to prosecution in the same timescale, Port Erin Village Commissioners have issued no fines or prosecutions, they identified one fly tipper who was billed for removal, disposal and staff time.

All others identified were contacted and offending items removed, there were no litter fines and they don’t employ a litter warden.

They have some issues in parks but other than that it is not a major issue. Castletown Town Commissioners have not taken any formal action against individuals for fly tipping but do have a fairly good record of identifying individuals and the police have assisted in visiting to offer advice.

They do confront litter offenders if spotted but it is in the low single figures annually and they consider cigarette litter the biggest problem.

The police reported that the biggest issue was seeing someone carrying out a littering offence in sight of an officer but have issued seven fines in the last five years.

One local authority, despite being emailed twice, did not respond but the final one that did was one that had not been included in the 2018 survey.

Braddan Parish Commissioners between 2015 and 2021 have dealt with 121 complaints but have been able to issue fines to only seven people due to the lack of sufficient evidence.

On other occasions when they have identified a person believed to be responsible, but do not have sufficient evidence to support a prosecution, they came to an agreement for the person to remove the rubbish immediately and dispose at a waste station.

I asked about what may be done to improve the current situation and the answer that came back from most was the problem caused by not actually seeing an offender in the act.

I was also interested to be reminded that the Litter Act 1972 section 5C (litter officers) requires every local authority to designate a person regarding enforcement and any other functions under the act, I wonder how many are fulfilling this requirement in the law?

It may well be the only practical way to carry this out for some of the smaller authorities would be to amalgamate for this purpose, amongst others.

Another interesting suggestion in relation to fly tipping was that those businesses who carry out household clearances or removal of rubbish from gardens for example should be required to display a valid waste disposal licence number in any advert offering these services as a few may dispose of the material in an unacceptable manner.

Finally a suggested amendment to the law in relation to litter disposed of from vehicles has been proposed to government and it would be interesting to receive feedback on this.