FLY-TIPPED rubbish was cleared up seven times a day on average in Swansea last year, figures have shown.
There were 2,579 recorded incidents where waste was removed across the county in 2024-25. Mess left on the streets and in the countryside is a blight as well using up council resources which could be better deployed elsewhere.
The number was given in answer to a written question to the council by Cllrs Peter Black, Sam Bennett and Tony Fitzgerald.
Cllr Black said he regularly reported fly-tipped rubbish in his Cwmbrwla ward and reckoned the area looked better as a result as it helped the council keep on top of it.
The Liberal Democrat councillor urged people to dispose of rubbish responsibly and, while welcoming a planned £250,000 increase in the council’s fly-tipping and enforcement budget in 2026-27, said more enforcement was key.
Referring to fly-tipped rubbish, Cllr Black said: “This is costing the council a fortune, and it brings an area down.”
The highest number of incidents in 2024-25 were in more populous wards. Uplands had the most with 427, followed in joint second by Castle – covering a swathe of the city centre and Mount Pleasant – and Townhill, both with 345. Uplands and Castle have a lot of houses of multiple occupation and student accommodation.
Six of 43 areas listed in the council’s response didn’t have any fly-tipped rubbish removed.
The response said 75 fines were issued, 13 of which weren’t paid while eight others were withdrawn. The 75 fines included one for dog fouling – in Mynyddbach – as well as for fly-tipped rubbish. Also included were three fines issued to dog owners whose animals were on beaches with a ban in force.
There were five council prosecutions – three in Penderry, one in Cwmbwrla, and one in Gorseinon and Penyrheol.
Fly-tipping can include a couple of black bags to larger-scale dumping. Another public body which gets involved is environment regulator Natural Resources Wales, which tends to deal with larger-scale offences posing a risk to environmental or human health.
Wales’s 22 local authorities recorded 42,171 fly-tipping incidents in 2023-24, according to data on the website StatsWales, with Swansea recording a figure of 2,485. Dealing with all that rubbish cost councils £1.93 million that year. The cost for Swansea was £118,872.
A breakdown by area of the 2,579 fly-tipping incidents in Swansea:
Bishopston 6
Bonymaen 71
Castle 345
Clydach 52
Cockett 42
Cwmbrla 138
Fairwood 16
Gorseinon 2
Gower 9
Gowerton 23
Killay North 1
Killay South 1
Landore 123
Llangyfelach 15
Llansamlet 69
Mawr 16
Mayals 14
Morriston 139
Mynyddbach 136
Penclawdd 2
Penderry 147
Penllergaer 18
Pennard 4
Penyrheol 1
Pontarddulais 28
St Thomas 6
Sketty 85
Townhill 345
Uplands 427
West Cross 40
Waterfront 18
Waunarlwydd 26
Dunvant & Killay 11
Pontlliw & Tircoed 9
Gorseinon & Penryheol 74
Llwchwr 40
Mumbles 18
The areas with no fly-tipping recorded:
Dunvant
Kingsbridge
Lower Loughor
Upper Loughor
Newton
Oystermouth
