News · Enforcement
Bags left beside bins: what Richmond's fine means for your business
Frazer Lanagan, Managing Director · 6 November 2026 · 4 min read · In response to London Now
The short version
- Leaving sealed sacks next to a council bin counts as fly-tipping under the same law that covers larger offences.
- Business fly-tipping cases often start with a collection schedule that is not keeping up with actual volumes.
- Food waste is the easiest place for a business to end up with bags on the pavement.
- Walking your kerbside each morning catches the problem before a council camera does.
The Richmond case
Richmond Council caught a man on camera leaving two bags of rubbish next to large council bins in Ham, south-west London, and issued him a fine. He had pulled up in a convertible, placed the bags on the pavement, waited while a passenger went into a nearby Sainsbury's, then drove off. The council later reduced the penalty, but the published footage and the public message have done their job already. Leaving bags beside a public bin is the small act the enforcement teams are now building cases around.
Fly-tipping, even when it looks small
The council's own statement is direct. They called those involved 'small scale fly-tippers', and said offenders at that end of the spectrum can be fined on the spot. Larger operators can face much higher penalties and a 12 month prison sentence at the top end. That is the point every business owner should hold on to from this case. The legal threshold for fly-tipping is not a lorry load left on the verge. It is anything from a sealed sack on a pavement upwards. The gap between a litter conviction and a serious waste offence is not a mountain, it is a shift in scale.
Where this catches a business
Reaction to the council's post was mixed. Some said enforcement should go after van loads dumped in side streets, others that anyone caught should lose their vehicle. Both views skip the point most businesses need to hear. Staff and customers who do not know where a firm's waste goes will leave bags beside the nearest council bin if that is what feels convenient. If that happens outside your premises or beside a bin your team passes, the camera is pointed at you, not at them.
Fly-tipping linked to a business often starts with a gap in the collection schedule. A bin that fills up before its next empty. A seasonal spike that was not planned for. A shift change where nobody is sure who is supposed to take the sacks out and when. Any collection crew will recognise each of those patterns.
What the Richmond story tells you to tidy up
- 1Check your collection frequency against your actual volumes now, not against what you signed up for originally.
- 2Make sure whoever closes up each night knows exactly which bin takes what, where the keys are, and what to do when a bin is already full before the next empty is due.
- 3If anyone on your team has left a bag on the pavement because a bin was overflowing, treat it as a signal to upgrade frequency, not as a workaround to repeat.
- 4Walk your kerbside each morning. Cameras do not need to belong to a council to be rolling.
Food waste is the easiest place to go wrong
Food waste is the fastest growing stream on our rounds. 91 new food waste services started with us in 2025, and 57 more this year up to mid October. Sealed food caddies do not spill, do not attract foxes, and do not get left on a pavement by someone trying to tidy a kitchen in a hurry. If food is still going out through general waste at your site, that is the first thing to change.
If a bin fills up before its next scheduled empty, that is a signal to change the schedule, not a signal to leave a bag on the pavement.
Common questions
Does leaving sealed sacks next to a public bin really count as fly-tipping?
In this case Richmond Council said yes. They described those involved as 'small scale fly-tippers' and said even at that end of the scale the fine can be issued on the spot.
What does the Richmond case mean for my business?
Your responsibility for your own waste does not stop at the gate. If staff, contractors or customers leave bags beside a public bin because your own collection schedule cannot cope, the enforcement risk sits with the business whose rubbish it is. Review schedules and closing-up procedures now, rather than after a council posts your footage.
How can I tell if my collection schedule is behind?
The signal is a bin that is already full when the next collection arrives, a bag that has had to go on top of a bin rather than in it, or a seasonal week where staff resort to the pavement because nothing else fits. Any of those is the schedule asking to be increased.
Frazer Lanagan
Managing Director, FJL Waste Services
Frazer has 20 years in the waste and recycling industry, including time with large national operators, before starting FJL Waste 13 years ago.
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