Litter picker warns tip rules may cause fly-tipping

Strict recycling centre rules could be worsening fly-tipping in a city, a litter-picking "addict" has warned.

Mark Fishpool was told by staff at Fengate Household Recycling Centre in Peterborough that depositing his old car seats at the site was against the rules, despite the tip accepting chairs.

"If I was the sort of person who didn't care about the environment, I could easily have left it fly-tipped," the 69-year-old said.

Peterborough City Council said non-household waste could not be accepted at the site.

The authority's rules stated "car parts" could not be recycled, but Fishpool insisted his upholstered seats, which had been in his shed for decades, were more like household furniture.

He said the perceived contradiction "could add to fly-tipping" in the Cambridgeshire city.

"My wife was with me and she's a very understanding person," said Fishpool, who regularly tidies up lay-bys along the A47 and describes himself as a litter-picking "addict".

"As we drove out, she immediately said to me 'I can understand now why people go and fly-tip items like this in laybys'."

Fishpool returned home with his car seats and put them in his shed, where they had been for up to 50 years.

He decided not to go to a scrapyard as he believed they "don't want people taking odd items down there, and certainly not upholstered items like a car seat".

Peterborough was found to have the highest number of fly-tipping incidents in the East of England in 2023/24, but this began to fall in 2024/25.

People using Fengate Household Recycling Centre have required an e-permit for their vehicle since February 2025.

The city council said it was to stop non-residents taking advantage of its services.

Shabina Qayyum, the authority's Labour leader, said the centre provided for waste "that comes from the everyday running of a household".

"This does not mean the site can accept unlimited quantities of any material a resident may have," she added.

Qayyum stressed the centre's permit from the Environment Agency meant it could not accept non-household waste.

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