French town sets up dedicated ‘anti-rubbish dumping’ brigade

A French town has created an official ‘anti-rubbish dumping’ brigade to help combat fly-tipping and illegal rubbish dumping.

Three municipal officers from the local law enforcement service have been selected to check for wrongful disposal of waste, with at least one always present during daily hours.

They will head up a team of 15 officers who look for rubbish infractions on their patrols.

Officers will be able to hand out on the spot fines (verbalisations) to those who do not throw away rubbish correctly - from cigarette butts, chewing gum, bottles, and other smaller pieces of waste to larger items.

The aim is to reduce the amount of waste wrongly disposed of and free up resources elsewhere, said the deputy mayor of Mâcon in eastern France, Maxim Plat to France3.

This includes the local freephone service to the mairie, which Mr Plat says has been inundated with calls about rubbish dumping. 

Information campaigns on correct disposal 

The mairie previously tried sending letters to residents reminding them of the correct rules, and whilst this reduced the problem, it did not entirely resolve it. 

“We noticed that there were still too many cases of incivility, with rubbish bags left either in the street at the foot of the building, or at the voluntary drop-off points and deposited next to the containers provided,” Mr Plat said. 

The deputy mayor said that at one point he was sending out 150 letters per day over the issue of incorrectly disposed waste.

“Now the [guilty parties] will be fined,” he said.

Within the first 10 days of the task force being set up, 10 fines were handed out. 

The town has also started a similar campaign about cleaning up dog mess from its streets. 

“We are proceeding in the same way, with a major prevention campaign. We communicate, we warn, and then we fine,” said Mr Plat. 

“We want Mâcon to be a pleasant city for Mâconnais, we want it to be pleasant for tourists, we will not give up.” 

In the southern city of Béziers, dog owners gave the local authorities DNA samples of their pets, so those who did not clean up their mess could be traced and subsequently fined. 

Read more: 1,104 dog owners in French town give pet DNA so mess can be traced

What are the rules on fly-tipping? 

Fly-tipping (dépôts sauvages) is a punishable offence everywhere in France

R632-1 of the French Penal Code states that “failure to comply with the collection regulations established by the administrative authority responsible for the collection of household and similar waste is punishable by 2nd class fine i.e. €35 for individuals and €175 for businesses.”

This rises to a 4th class fine ( €135 for individuals and €675 for businesses) for items including “garbage, waste (bulky items and bulky household appliances), excrement, materials or unhealthy liquids outside of the sites, containers, garbage cans or skips.” 

Those who fail to pick up their dog’s excrement can be fined up to €135. 

Read more: France wrestles with its fly-tipping, littering and plastics problem