Where can I find statistics on illegal dumping and trash pollution?
February 10th, 2010 | 
Author: I need to find numbers and stats on of illegal dumping/ trash/ pollution. I’m making a short film for my high school. I would like to know things about how much trash pollution is collected. Deaths to wildlife because of pollution and other facts. California stats would be great but ANY general stats would help me so much! Thank you.
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As laz4059 says, I think you’ll find only scant information. If anyone had current statistics on illegal dumping, then it would need to be turned over to the authorities for enforcement. I say that sort of "tongue in cheek" as the illegal dumpers aren’t filling reports on their activities.
One approach would be to go to EPA’s enforcement information web page:
http://www.epa.gov/oecaerth/data/results/performance/rcra/index.html
You might be able to glean some information there.
Also, think historical – 20/20 vision is always that – crystal clear when looking retrospectively. There should be realms of data on discoveries of illegal dumping, and related activities.
Because of the nature of the crime (it’s illegal, therefore on the down low), accurate statistics are going to be pretty much impossible to obtain, especially in areas where it’s unregulated. I would suggest instead performing your own anaylsis of local areas, perhaps by calculating the amount of refuse per square foot in a given area (within a street, alley, along a roadside, in a public park. Don’t go onto private property without permission) by taking samples at intervals from a grid. Then after you determine the amount of waste, you can determine what percentage is recyclable, hazardous, etc.
This hands-on approach has several benefits including publicity (your local newspaper is almost guaranteed to write about you if you ask) and activism (your video can be submitted to your local government as a means to shape policy regarding dumping, or catalyze the formation of a group of volunteers to clean the area/areas). There is also a great chance that this project can earn you some scholarship money from national and local organizations. http://www.fastweb.com provides free access to thousands of scholarships.