High numbers of residents in London boroughs have been illegally fly-tipping their green waste, a new government report shows.
Haringey and Southwark saw the biggest number of locals discarding their garden waste, such as lawn clippings, weeds, leaves, wood or soil in areas like council lands, back alleyways, and railways.
Dumping garden waste in the wrong place can cause dangerous effects to the environment such as waterway contamination, blocked drains and negative aesthetics in parks, nature reserves and communities, according to Faraway Furniture, a garden furniture company.
If waste is deposited on top of native plants, it can also alter the biodiversity, puts wildlife at risk and cause weeds to spread.
The figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report showed that 1,478 green waste incidents were recorded in Haringey from 2017 to 2018.
The south London borough of Southwark reported 913 green waste incidents from 2017 to 2018, followed by Merton with 660, Ealing with 555 and Lewisham with 494.
London residents in boroughs like Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea and Richmond upon Thames also saw a considerable number of people dumping garden waste, despite a number of councils providing a home collection service.
Outside of London, 803 green waste incidents occurred in Leeds from 2017 to 2018 – the highest of any authority outside of London.
Faraway Furniture advises residents to visit their local tip, create their own compost heap or consider using a hippo - a nylon-bag available from garden centres to fill with waste - before requesting its removal.
