Waste crime costs the UK £560 million a year, Herpreet Kaur Grewal reports.
In its report Waste Crime – Britain’s Dirty Secret the Environmental Services Association (ESA), the organisation representing waste professionals, says waste crime takes many different forms, from builders fly-tipping rubble on country roads to illegal waste sites processing thousands of tonnes of waste and operators misclassifying waste to evade millions in tax.
Local authorities are cracking down heavily on waste crime, with on-the-spot fines for fly-tipping (totalling about £750,000 a year in England alone) and by pursuing prosecutions of ‘waste owners’ who allow their waste to be dumped illegally, says the study.
The government has already implemented measures to try to tackle waste crime. The Environment Agency’s waste crime task force has given a welcome boost to enforcement efforts, and has helped to close down a record number of illegal waste sites, says the report.
It also points out that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has clarified the rules on what kinds of waste can be classified as inert, and the Sentencing Council’s review of guidance on the penalties for environmental crimes seems likely to improve on a current weakness in the enforcement system.
Despite these measures ESA says “waste crime remains a substantial threat to the legitimate waste sector, and the resources available to tackle it are coming under increasing pressure” and contends that cutting enforcement expenditure “seems a false economy”.
Its study shows that each pound spent on enforcement is likely to yield a return of as much as £5.60. Of this, £3.20 would be received directly by government in taxes, with the rest benefiting legitimate waste sector firms and wider society.
Robert Logan, managing director of waste management firm Waste Cost Reduction Services, said: “Waste crime is now sadly endemic in our country, and we all have a duty of care and responsibility to dispose of waste compliantly.
“It is important that FMs and businesses as a whole partner with a reliable, compliant and experienced waste management provider, fully committed to the circular economy, carrying the correct and appropriate licences and able to provide full traceability and compliance along every step of the process.”
Source: http://bit.ly/2BxBeyi
