Organised fly-tipping strikes at all of us, not just in the cost to the public purse of clearing it up, but in the cost to the planet, says the Environmental Services Association's Rid Hollands. And, given the damage that unscrupulous illegal operators cause, it's about time the punishment fitted the crime.

Rid Hollands writes: In 2010/2011, the UK’s fly-tipping database, known as Flycapture, recorded 819,571 incidents of fly-tipping in England. With a population of around 51 million, this figure may not seem like much. But according to these most recent figures the estimated cost of clearing illegally dumped waste was reported by local authorities as £41.3m, meaning each fly-tipping incident costs the public purse the equivalent of more than £50 an incident (excluding enforcement costs).

Light-Weight Stadium, River Restoration and Clean-Up of Historic Docklands among Key Achievements

Many of London 2012's sustainability measures were given the thumbs up by UN Under-Secretary General and UN Environment Programme Executive Director Achim Steiner as he toured final preparations for the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.