Mattress stuffing fly tipped

Monday 14 January 2019

What looks like the inside of a large number of mattresses was dumped at Port Grat in what's thought to have been another case of fly tipping in Guernsey.

It was photographed and shared on Facebook and Twitter numerous times, with the original poster saying it had been done by a "selfish person".

Pictured: One of the many posts on Facebook over the weekend about the items flytipped at Port Grat.

With the introduction of Guernsey's new waste strategy, many people had feared that fly tipping would become more common around the island.

These items however, would have had to be treated as commercial waste and either taken to the tip and paid for by their weight or be disposed of by other commercial means.

Despite that, many people were linking the latest fly tipping incident to the new waste charges, which come in next month when we have to start buying stickers from the supermarkets and other shops to put on our rubbish before the bin men will take it away.

Commenting on the post pictured above, Alastaire said "just wait until the £2.50 bag charge comes in..." while Justin said "and now it starts!"

Lexi Lundberg, who took the photo and shared it on social media originally, said:

"I do hope that whoever did this will realise dumping waste like this is an irresponsible thing to do. If this had blown into the bay it would be harmful to marine life."

However, she added that she didn't think it was connected to the new waste strategy charges as some people had commented.

Pictured: States Works removed the rubbish as soon as they could and the people behind Guernsey's waste strategy would like to know who was responsible for dumping it at Port Grat. 

On Twitter, one of the people responsible for bringing in the new waste strategy said States Works had already dealt with the dumped items.

Richard Evans, the States Trading Assets Deputy Managing Director, said they were also hoping to find out who was responsible.

Pictured top: What looks like the inside of mattresses was dumped at Port Grat on Saturday. Image by Lexi Lundberg.