Revenue from landfill tax should be used to directly fund efforts to tackle waste crime, a report published today (2 May) has suggested.
Rethinking Waste Crime, commissioned by the Environmental Services Association Educational Trust (ESAET) and ESA, and launched in the House of Commons this afternoon, has outlined a series of recommendations for policy makers to improve efforts to tackle waste crime.
ESA is calling for action by government to tackle waste crime
According to the report, which was written by consultancy firm Eunomia and also supported by the ‘Right Waste Right Place’ duty of care campaign, waste crime in England incurs losses to the legitimate waste industry and the taxpayer of close to £604 million a year.
The research suggests the waste sector, which adds a reported £6.6 billion of value to the UK economy, has changed ‘beyond recognition’ in the last two decades and that regulation has not kept up pace.
‘Entrenched’
The report alleges that waste crime is ‘more entrenched than ever’ – despite efforts by government and regulatory bodies, including the Environment Agency, to tackle the issue.
It states: “Unless government can get a grip of this issue there is a real risk of derailing the government’s long term vision for delivering a more resource efficient and resilient economy.”
According to the report, there are six key areas where waste crime occurs which include: illegal waste sites, illegal burning of waste, fly-tipping, misclassification and fraud, serious breaches of permit conditions and illegal exports of waste.
The report suggested that the majority of crime is associated with waste from businesses, rather than households.
ESA executive director Jacob Hayler, has described waste crime as ‘more entrenched than ever’
Regulation
Weak regulation is a major cause of waste crime, the report claims, citing the example of operators overcoming ‘regulatory hurdles’ such as waste carriers’ registration and waste exemptions. The report suggests that poor enforcement of these requirements makes it easier for businesses to avoid their obligations.
The report outlines fourteen recommendations on how waste crime can be tackled more effectively. These fall under the categories: modernising the regulatory regime; improving enforcement efforts; developing secure sources of enforcement funding; and, improving cost-regulatory cooperation and raising awareness.
Among the recommendations, Rethinking Waste Crime suggests applying bans to serious and repeat offenders to make it more difficult for waste criminals to re-enter the sector; imposing landfill tax on illegal waste sites; and, increasing enforcement activities by regulatory bodies.
End destinations
It also recommends the government place an obligation for local authorities to provide end destination reports for waste materials and ensure none of the waste handled by local authorities is ever sent to poorly performing or illegal sites.
Jacob Hayler, executive director at the Environmental Services Association, said: “Despite additional funding for regulators and stronger enforcement powers, waste crime is more entrenched than ever. Clearly, we need a different approach which targets the underlying causes of crime in our sector and which roots out the prevailing culture which allows waste crime to flourish.
Mike Brown of consultancy Eunomia, which compiled the report, has claimed that regulators have been under-resourced in efforts to tackle waste crime
“This report highlights the weakness in the current regime and puts forward ambitious recommendations aimed at stopping waste crime once and for all.”
Mike Brown, managing director from Eunomia said: “Regulators have been under-resourced and encouraged to take a light-touch approach in order to be business friendly. Ironically, this is actually harming the interests of legitimate waste businesses while giving criminals an easy ride.
“The solution isn’t to abandon the progress we’ve made, but to modernise regulation to support our increasingly circular economy.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
