Fly-tipping is a significant problem in England. For the 2020/21 year, Local Authorities (LAs) in England dealt with 1.13 million fly-tipping incidents, an increase of 16% from the 980,000 reported in 2019/20. The cost of clearance for larger incidents also increased in the last year (a 6% increase from 2019/20). Additionally, these operational metrics do not capture the full picture as they only include public land. It is important for Government to better understand the main causes and consequences of fly-tipping because it has significant financial, social and environmental impacts which affect communities across the length and breadth of the country. It is at best unsightly, can impact public amenities, and negatively affect people’s perception of where they live and their quality of life. It can also pose risks to the environment and human/animal health. For example, there have been cases where dangerous waste has been deposited near water reservoirs in recent years. Those who fly-tip can also avoid paying disposal costs, impose clean-up costs on taxpayers and private landowners (who can also be responsible in many cases for the costs of clear up), as well as undercutting legitimate waste businesses. Additionally fly-tipping can also undermine achieving a circular economy. If Government can’t deal effectively with it then it becomes harder to achieve recycling and other targets. Despite the continuous efforts of the Government, LAs, National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, Environment Agency, and charities in tackling fly-tipping, the situation isn’t improving and the problem appears more entrenched than ever. The 2006 Jill Dando Institute project commissioned by Government to look at fly-tipping identified that enforcement had dominated the thinking behind tackling fly-tipping at the expense of a strategic approach. Fifteen years later the focus is still on stronger regulation, with a large reliance on tip-offs, or clues in the waste identifying the perpetrator. This approach has not been as effective as hoped because of the resourcing implications of regulation and enforcement, and more generally hasn’t satisfactorily addressed the drivers behind fly-tipping. This research was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2021 because it has become increasingly obvious to Government that a more detailed and systematic examination of the factors influencing fly-tipping was necessary, and the expectation is that such a review might help provide better evidence based policy making and influence future strategies and interventions.